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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23772697">Those Eyes of Yours</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Movielover52/pseuds/Movielover52'>Movielover52</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, MT Prompto Argentum, My First Kiss Went A little Like This, Prompto Argentum Needs a Hug, Slow Burn, ardyn keep away from prompto, bit of torture, no beta we die like men, prompto's chocobo love is eternal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:40:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23772697</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Movielover52/pseuds/Movielover52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Unit 05953234 has spent his entire life in a facility. He and several other units were meant to become MTs but ended up failures. Still, they were trained with expectations that they could still be useful to the empire. 05953234 will finally be able to see the outside world for the first time when he is sent on a mission to kill Noctis. He fails to complete his mission, but for some unknown reason, he was spared. Noctis and the gang decide to bring 05953234 along with them. There is distrust at first, but they will eventually grow close. There is so much for 05953234 to learn about the world. Perhaps, he will be able to learn why he begins to feel so strange around Noctis.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>283</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Got this idea in my head, so naturally I got to make it a fic.<br/>Enjoy!</p><p>Tags subjected to change depending on how the story progresses</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>First Promptis fic wooo! I love this pairing</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Unit 05953234 woke up precisely at 6:45 am. It got out of its bed and changed into a pair of dark grey pants and a black tank top. It was the same routine every morning: wake up, go to the training room, and if your performance was satisfactory, then you get to eat the morning meal. </p><p>     When it finished getting ready for the day, it left its small room. Several other units exited their cells at the same time. They fell into a single file line and walked to the training room. They arrived at 7:00. Not a minute early nor a minute late. Never a minute late. It had learned quickly what happens when you were late.  </p><p>     They stood straight as they waited for instructions. They were to fight each other in hand-to-hand combat. 05953234 wasn’t as great with close combat as the other units were. It would much prefer to have started with another activity such, as disassembling and reassembling guns. But 05953234 doesn’t have preferences; it only follows orders. It just knew that it would not be getting breakfast today. </p><p>     It and another unit were called up first. They each grabbed a sword and took their stances. The swords were real, and why wouldn’t they be? Real battles used real weapons after all, so it was only natural for training to use them as well.  </p><p>     05953234 looked at its opponent, who had short, blond hair and red eyes. All the other units had the same features, but they still looked slightly different from each other. 05953234 had occasionally seen its reflection in some of the weapons, so it knew it looked like them as well. Another thing they all had were black veins visible throughout their bodies, which looked prominent against their skin. They were meant to be fully-fledged MTs, but for some reason, they hadn’t been converted. There might have been issues during conversion that prevented them from reaching full potential. Fortunately, their bodies still contained daemon blood, so they may still be useful.</p><p>     For as long as 05953234 could remember, they were training every day to eventually join the infantry. It had never once left the facility. Some units had come and gone over the years. Whether they had been upgraded to soldiers or terminated, it did not know. It was going to prove that it was just as valuable of an MT as the rest. </p><p>     “Begin!” Their commanding officer shouts. </p><p>     The unit in front of it lunged forward to strike, but 05953234 dodged the attack. It tried to attack its opponent only to be blocked. The fight continued like this for a while until its opponent knocked it onto its back. Its opponent slashed down at it, but it raised its weapon to block. It tried holding its opponent back, but the weapon was slowly inching closer to its face. It tried to keep itself as expressionless as the unit staring down at it. It could almost feel the blade on its cheek. </p><p>     “Enough!” </p><p>     The fight lasted five minutes. <em> Unit 05953234 failed. </em>It could practically hear those unspoken words. After it stood up, it put its weapon away and joined the rest of the units. Others were called up to fight each other. Afterward, those who performed well were given protein bars. The others were made to stand there while the rest ate. 05953234 stared straight ahead. It kept telling itself that it didn’t feel hungry. </p><p>     The next thing they had to do was target practice. At first, they were stationary, but after the first round, the targets began moving quickly. Everything in its peripheral vision faded away as it focused on what was in front of it. It fired shot after shot, all hitting the vital areas. A familiar prickly sensation began to spread through its body. </p><p>     Hours went by until they moved onto more physical training. This time, it was running laps. Towards the end of the day, they had to go for their daily inspection. The units usually went to a smaller room that had the scientists. They would perform various tests on the units, though, 05953071 had no idea what most of them were for. Every few days, they would inject it with some black substance. It had always been on those days that its body would feel irritated. The injections had always made the feeling go away. The sensation that had started earlier today had gotten slightly worse.  </p><p>     The humans did indeed inject the strange substance into 05953071’s arm, and the prickly feeling went away about five minutes later. After visiting the scientists, it was time for their evening meal. They were given ten minutes to eat their evening meal. It consisted of a simple sandwich, with unknown meat, and a cup of water. Sometimes, there would be some green mush that they were served. There was nothing special about it, but the green offered a nice contrast to the black, grey, and brown colors that had surrounded it for its entire existence. </p><p>     Once those ten minutes were up, they were ordered to go back to their cells to sleep and report back at 7:00 the next morning. </p><p>     “Unit 05953234, Unit 05953071, come here.” the commanding officer ordered. The two units obeyed as the rest left the area. They stood silently in front of him. </p><p>     “You two have been reassigned to the infantry. Report to the main level to receive further instructions tomorrow at 6:30 am. Understood?” </p><p>     05953234 and 05953071 nodded. </p><p>     “Go back your cells.” </p><p>     The two units nodded and headed back to their cells. Once 05953234 entered its cell, it changed into its sleepwear and got into bed. It tried to sleep like it had been ordered to, but it couldn’t stop thinking about its reassignment. This meant it would be able to leave the facility. It would get to go outside. It had no idea what to expect and briefly wondered what was out there. Its heartbeat sped up while it quickly let the thoughts go until there was nothing. Turning onto its side, it closed its eyes and drifted off to sleep. </p><p>
  <strike>----- --</strike>
</p><p>     Unit 05953234 had just put on its newly acquired armor and was now listening to an officer tell it and the other unit what they will do. It had been specifically designated to be a sniper and had been given a rifle. It was also equipped with a pistol. It was a bit heavier than the rifles used in training, but it quickly adjusted to its weight. </p><p>     It was told that they were going to be transported to a nearby base, and from there, they were to ambush the now king of Lucis, Noctis Lucis Caelum, and his retinue. They were to kill the king and report back to the nearest base. With that, 05953234 and 05953071 headed outside to get into the truck. The first thing 05953234 noticed when it stepped out of the building was how bright it was. It was fortunate that its helmet covered its face so that no one could see the surprised look on its face. </p><p>     There wasn’t much to look at in the compound. There were fences and some white stuff on the ground, but what caught its eye was the bright blue ceiling above it. It quickly focused back on what was in front of it before anyone could notice. As it walked, it heard a weird crunching sound. Whatever the white stuff was, it was somehow making the crunching sound as 05953234 tread across it. It approached a large, black metal object that had four big wheels underneath. There two doors on the front that were smaller than the ones in the facility. The back part was long and had no roof over it. This must be the truck. </p><p>     05953234 and the other unit sat in the back. It noticed that there was a small bench on each side. It sat down, and the truck departed. The facility got smaller behind them. The ground on both sides of the truck was nothing but a lot more of that white stuff blanketing the ground around them. Everything was moving past them quickly, but it could see blocks of brown peeking out of the white that passed by them occasionally.  </p><p>     The ground reminded it of the coats the scientists would wear. Looking back up, the blue ceiling seemed to go on forever. There was also a giant light attached to the ceiling, but it was painful to look at for too long. </p><p>     Eventually, they reached what seemed to be the base. There were two giant machines out front, which it was told were dropships. There were MTs already boarding the dropships. 05953234 and 05953071 were ordered to get into the dropship along with the rest of the troopers. It went inside, and the doors closed. There was a sudden movement that almost caused it to stumble, but it managed to catch itself. </p><p>     It was dark despite there being some overhead lights. It could no longer see the outside anymore, and a part of it wished it could see it more. Its heart started to beat faster, so it concentrated on its orders instead. Ambush and kill Noctis Lucis Caelum. Report back once the mission was completed. </p><p>     It wasn’t sure how long it had been, but finally, the doors opened. The MTs in front of it started to drop to the ground below, so it did the same. The dropship was a bit high above the ground, and the impact caused its legs to hurt. It ignored it. It took a second to survey its surroundings. This new location had nothing but green everywhere. It had never seen so much green before. Some were a darker than others, but they were all more pleasing to look at than the green mush it had been fed. In the distance, there was something black approaching them. It came to a stop, and three humans came out. They must be the targets. </p><p>     The humans got out their weapons. It was hard to tell, but it looked like they appeared out of nowhere. Was it possible for things to do that? That didn’t matter, because they began to engage the troopers in battle. It needed to find an optimal location for better efficiency. Looking around, it saw elevated ground a good distance away from the action. It decided to head there along with a couple of other snipers.  </p><p>     Kneeling, It raised its rifle and peered through the scope. This was a lot different than training. There were so many bodies moving around all over the place. It tried to focus on the enemy with short, black hair. However, the human kept moving from one spot to another in a blink of an eye. 05953234 didn’t know that was even possible, and it took a shot when it finally got an opening only for the man to disappear and reappear farther away. </p><p>     05953234 decided to aim for someone else. Scanning the battlefield, it spotted the larger of the targets and decided it would be beneficial to take him down first. Its gun fixed right on the man’s chest where the heart was. When it pulled the trigger, the man suddenly moved to the side as another MT attacked him. The bullet hit his shoulder. </p><p>     Just as it was about to line up another shot, something caught its attention out of the corner of its eye. It allowed its eyes to momentarily drift away from the action. Trotting across the distance was something big and bright yellow. It was moving on two odd-looking legs. The back of it was bushy, and the top of its head reminded it of one of the unit's hair. Occasionally it would jump in the air while two appendages fluttered up and down. For some reason, it found itself drawn to it.</p><p>     05953234 knew it had to turn its attention back on the targets, but it couldn’t take its eyes off the strange new creature. It was tempted to go over and touch it, but before it could do anything, the trooper near it had fallen. The black-haired man that could jump from place to place was there. 05953234 shouldn’t have been so easily distracted; it was going to get seriously corrected after this. That was if it lived.  </p><p>     It stood up, and the man snapped his head up in its direction. 05953234 wasn’t effective in close combat and needed to get further away. Before it could take a step back, the man rushed up to it and swung his sword down at 05953234. 05953234 raised its rifle in a feeble attempt to block, and the gun broke in half. It looked at the man’s face to see the pure rage in his eyes.  </p><p>     It threw the broken rifle to the ground and tried to reach for its pistol. Its opponent swung at it again, causing it to jump back to dodge. The human’s blade managed to slash its chest. It successfully dodged another attack and lunged forward to tackle him. They fell to the ground with 05953234 on top of the man. It went to reach for its pistol again only to be rolled over.  </p><p>     The two continued their struggle on the ground until 05953234 received a kick to the stomach. There was a cool feeling blowing onto its face, and it noticed that its helmet got knocked off at some point during the scuffle. It looked up to see the man gazing down at it with his sword raised. There seemed to be a mixture of shock and disgust in the man’s eyes; he looked ready to finish 05953234 off. 05953234’s gaze drifted past him to the blue ceiling. </p><p>     This was just its luck. 05953234 had finally left the facility to join the ranks only to be killed on its first deployment. It felt its chest tighten, and its heart began to beat fast. Its vision blurred; it didn’t want to die. It felt scared. It wasn't allowed to feel fear. It started to feel calm while looking at the ceiling. There were puffs of white streaked across it now, how strange. Closing its eyes, it turned its head to the side. The green stuff from the ground felt odd against its skin, and there was an interesting smell coming from it. As the light warmed its face, It knew that it at least got to experience being outside at least once. </p><p>     It patiently waited for the blade to pierce its chest, but nothing happened. There were sounds of footsteps approaching it, but its eyes remained closed. </p><p>     “What are you doing? Hurry up!” a deep voice rang out. </p><p>     “Is that a human? I assumed all MTs were machines. Interesting,” another voice stated. This one had an accent to it. What was he talking about? Of course, it wasn't human</p><p>     “Yeah, I thought so too. Though, I’m not sure it’s even quite human anymore,” the dark haired one said. </p><p>     “Are you going to finish it off or what?” the deep voice asked. There was a moment of silence. </p><p>     “Nah, it’s not worth the effort. It’s probably going to die soon out here anyways. Let’s just go.” </p><p>     The sound of their footsteps grew fainter and fainter until 05953234 could no longer hear them. A loud sound, similar to the truck, suddenly broke the silence but eventually went further and further away. It waited a little bit longer before opening its eyes. Why had it been spared?  </p><p>     Sitting up, it looked around. Most of the troopers were no longer there. It had seen some disappear into smoke earlier during the fight. There was only one body left lying around. It was most likely its fellow unit. As it stood up, only one question plagued its mind. Now what? </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm saurix5 on tumblr if you wanna say hi!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     It was very odd. There were no fans or vents, as far as Unit 05953234 could see, yet there was air blowing at it from the side. Very odd indeed. It was walking along a dark grey path. Where it was going, it did not know. Part of it was telling it to go to the nearest base, but it had not completed its mission to kill Noctis Lucis Caelum. If it returned unsuccessful, it would face severe punishment. It would maybe even be terminated. Should it still pursue the king? This human could be anywhere. </p><p>     Another wave of pain hit it, but it tried not to let the pain bother it. While its armor had managed to prevent the man’s attack from being fatal, the wound was still at risk of infection. If it was going to complete its objective, then it would need to be at full efficiency. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to tend to its wounds while it searched for the king. It continued walking in hopes that it would come across a place that had medical supplies. </p><p>     It took a couple of hours before 05953234 came across a small building. It looked like it hadn’t been in use for some time. Still, there might be something useful inside, and it needed to find some cover. The longer it stayed outside, the more its skin felt like it was burning. Maybe it had something to do with the daemon blood in its body. It had once heard that daemons only show up at night. Maybe this is a special light that hurts them? It should have taken its helmet with it. Sighing, it went inside to see that it was mostly empty. There was a table by the far wall, and in the corner were some blankets.  </p><p>     The blankets looked worn and were filled with holes. Maybe they could be used as makeshift bandages. It lifted one up, and something rolled out from underneath. 05953234 picked up the object to inspect it. The thing was small and made of glass. The bottom half was filled with a light blue liquid. It was also topped with a metal lid. It unscrewed the lid to sniff the liquid. It wasn’t quite sure what it was smelling. It wasn’t bad, but it did have a weird scent. </p><p>     It wondered if it was safe to drink. Was it allowed to drink it? Even though it wasn’t human, its body still needed to be hydrated. Surely, it would be okay if it did, but this might very well be poison. Biting its lip, it decided to risk it. It placed the glass container to its lips and tilted its head up. The liquid seeped into its mouth, and it squeezed its eyes shut. It tasted similar to what it would clean its teeth with, and there was a hint of something else. It swallowed it quickly before coughing slightly at the aftertaste. It really hoped it hadn’t been poison. </p><p>     Suddenly, there a warm feeling coursing through its body. The stinging pain of its chest wound became nothing but a dull ache. Was it possible? Taking off its armor, it looked down at its torn shirt but saw nothing but dried blood. It even dragged its fingers across the skin and felt nothing. Whatever it had drunk had healed it. It looked around the whole building in case there were any more. Unfortunately, that had been the only one there. </p><p>     There wasn’t anything else around that could be considered useful. One thing did catch its eye. It was a small stack of paper that looked smooth. As it picked it up, it noticed how none of the papers were falling out. Something was keeping them bound together. What was more interesting, however, was what was on the paper. They were... well, it didn’t know what they were. It recognized some things like the green floor with brown poles containing a bunch of dark green things on top. They reminded 05953234 of what it saw outside, but they were shaped differently. There was another of the ceiling along with its giant, bright light. Except this time, it didn’t hurt to look at it.  </p><p>     There were also plenty of things it had not seen before, such as colorful objects that had yellow centers. A bumpy-looking, deep blue ground that seemed to stretch on forever despite it being on a flat surface. On it, lied a brown pathway that led to a building. Everything looked so realistic, as if someone had taken a piece of the world. How was it possible for the things to be put right here on paper? 05953234 tried to touch some of them, but its fingers only met the smooth surface of the paper.  </p><p>     There were words written on some of the pages, but it couldn’t read any of it. It had never been taught to read because it hadn't been necessary for MTs to learn. On one of the pages, was the big, yellow creature from before. How had it managed to get onto the paper? It was able to get a better look at it now that it was on paper, and it let its fingers drag across it despite knowing it couldn't feel anything. Underneath it was a few words, but it had no idea what it said.</p><p>     Without thinking, it ripped the page with the creature and folded it up. Then it stopped itself. Did this mean that it owned something? It was an MT, and MTs didn’t have personal possessions. Just like it, everything belonged to the empire. It swallowed hard as fear entered its mind. It closed its eyes in anticipation of punishment, but nothing came. It remembered that it was alone and felt itself relax. It was only paper, and paper can be useful. Not now, perhaps, but maybe in the future. It was just holding onto something that was a valuable resource. Unsure where to put it, it squeezed it in between its gun and the holster.  </p><p>     It stood up and put its armor back on. When its skin no longer felt it was burning, it left the building and continued its journey. Along the way, it started to hear this weird beeping sound. Only it wasn’t like any beeping it had heard before. It was higher pitched and going rather fast. It couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. It sounded like the beeping was coming from a nearby pole, so it walked up to it. It was more grayish in color and skinny. It removed one of its gloves to touch it. It felt rough against its skin.  </p><p>     Looking up, it saw that the pole had things protruding from it like limbs. Hanging from those limbs had to be hundreds of small green things. It reached up and plucked one. It turned it around in its hand. The bottom was roundish and narrowed at the top. The texture of it was smooth, and the thing itself was thin. It was so thin that it easily tore as it fiddled with it. Oops. It tried to put it back, but it only fell onto the ground.</p><p>     05953234 heard that beeping sound again, and it sounded like it was coming from above. It tried to look up but couldn’t see where the source was. After a while, it gave up searching and went back to walking. After another couple of hours, its face began to burn again. Going inside had helped the last time, but there weren’t any buildings around. Those brown poles in the distance looked like they would provide adequate shelter from the light. It wondered from the path, and then it heard its stomach growl. </p><p>
  <strike> ----------   </strike>
</p><p>     05953234 was squatting in front of a large patch of green, and among the green were little, yellow things. Or were they orange? It was hard to tell. It had come across them when it had taken shelter from the light. Unfortunately, there was still some light that shown through, but it wasn’t too bad. It plucked one of the orange things. It looked like it was a cluster of tiny balls. They were also kind of squishy. Apparently, too squishy, because it accidentally crushed it between its fingers. Liquid stained its fingered glovers as some of the remains fell to the ground. </p><p>     It tilted its head. Curious, it brought its fingers up to its mouth and licked them. It couldn’t think of a word to describe how it tasted. It was rather good, at least, better than what it had eaten in the facility. Way better than the food it had been given. Its stomach growled again; it figured that eating a few wouldn’t hurt.  </p><p>     It picked up another one and was about to place it into its mouth before it abruptly stopped. What was it doing? It couldn’t eat. A commanding officer had to give it permission to do so. That's right, there was none around to give orders. No one to say it could, and no one to say it couldn’t. Surely, it was acceptable for it to have some in the absence of an officer. As long as no one found out. It figured that it wouldn’t be insolent of it to eat the yellow-orange things without a commanding officer anywhere nearby. It ended up eating all of them. It was hard not to, because they were so good. It got up to search for more. As it was looking, it heard what sounded like flowing water. Similar to the showers during cleaning days. </p><p>     It got closer to see that it was indeed water flowing across the ground. It looked in both directions but couldn’t see where it was coming from. It looked to be a couple of steps wide. Who would waste this much water? Its throat was still parched despite all those things it had eaten, so it crouched down and scooped some water into its hands. It drank until it was no longer thirsty. </p><p>     It stared at the flowing water as it thought about what it was doing. Even if it could track this Noctis human, would it be able to succeed? If it remembered correctly, there had been two others accompanying Noctis. There was no way it could take on three people by itself. But what else could it do? It couldn’t return until it succeeded. It could decide to abandon the mission and not return. 05953234 started to smack its head to get rid of the thought. How could it think of something like that?  </p><p>     It gripped its hair tightly. It would be deemed a defector and most definitely terminated. Besides, where would it go? What would it do? It had been created to follow orders, and it doubted it could find a new officer out there that would want a failure like it. Looking at the water one last time, it stood back up. Its skin started to feel normal again, so it went back to walking once again. </p><p>     Looking up, 05953234 noticed the ceiling had changed color. There was still some blue, but orange had taken up most of the space. How did it do that? Did someone change the tiles? Why? Not only that, but the giant light had lowered and was starting to disappear into the ground in the distance. It easier to look at, and it noticed that it was yellow in color. The outside was a weird place.  </p><p>     It couldn’t stop staring at the color of the ceiling. It didn’t know to describe it. It wasn’t horrible to look at. Far from it actually. It wondered if there was a way to put it on paper like the yellow creature. Shaking its head, it continued walking. It kept getting darker and darker until it was pitch black. The light was gone and replaced with a new one. This one wasn’t as bright and was completely white. Still, its enhanced eyesight did grant it some low-light vision. </p><p>     After several minutes of walking, something emerged from the ground in front of it. It was huge and black. It’s never seen a daemon before, but it had heard that they tend to come out at night. These guys can do a lot of damage, which is why the empire wanted to use them for their magitek army. 05953234 could see why. This one had a sword that was bigger than any it had ever seen.  </p><p>     It should have holed up somewhere for the night, but it had forgotten about the daemons. The daemon walked towards it, and it brought its hand to its pistol. It doubted a few mere bullets would be able to take this thing down. If it needed, it would run away as fast it could. The daemon looked down at it. Its gaze meeting 05953234’s own, almost like there was recognition in its eyes. In what felt like an eternity, the daemon walked off much to its surprise. </p><p>     It watched it go until it couldn’t see it anymore. Wasn’t it supposed to be attacking it or something? The outside world truly was weird. A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit it as it yawned. Should it sleep? It hadn’t been told it could go to sleep, so no sleep it was. Wait. That’s right, there wasn’t anyone of higher rank around. It had always been a part of the routine, so it would just be following routine. </p><p>     Where would it sleep? There weren’t any beds around, and it was chilly. Maybe it should have taken those old blankets. After doing what little it could to get ready for bed, it debated whether it should take off its armor or not. It hadn’t been told what the protocol was, so it left it on. Finding a large pole to sit next to, it did its best to fall asleep. It was difficult because there were so many sounds that kept putting its mind on alert. Eventually, exhaustion won over, and it drifted off to sleep. It woke up a couple of times throughout the night.  </p><p>     When morning finally arrived, it still felt tired, and its whole body was stiff. It brushed it off and stood up. It was time to finish its mission, and off it went. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I promise more exciting things will happen next chapter TT.TT</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, I changed our beloved MT's pronouns from he/him to it for narrative purposes. (also made changes in previous chapters, hopefully got em all)<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     05953234 was hot and very hungry but kept moving. It had been walking for hours now, and there had been no sign of anything. But then it stopped when it saw something in the distance. It kept walking until it realized that it was several buildings. Finally, it was getting somewhere. </p><p>     It looked at the cluster of buildings in the distance as it debated whether it should approach. There was a chance that it would run into someone who would try to kill it. After all, it was in enemy territory. But think of all the new things it would be able to find. There had been the occasional truck that passed by. If it waited here, then it was possible that it would run into Noctis. Of course, it would need to find somewhere to stay for the time being. Sleeping outside was not ideal. Maybe it could find a place to hide in one of the buildings. </p><p>     There didn’t seem to be a whole lot of people around, so maybe it would be safe. As it approached one of the buildings, it saw a couple of people walking around. They either stared in shock or scurried away. No hostiles, good. One of the structures had a green sign with white words. Unfortunately, it was unable to read it, but it still decided to check the place out. It entered the place and stared wide-eyed at how full the place was. There were rows of items across the large room.  </p><p>     A guy stood several feet from the door but was fortunately turned around. It took the opportunity to slip in between the rows and out of sight. It gazed at all the stuff on each shelf. It picked up a rectangle that had green wrapping. The wrapping was thin as paper, but upon tearing it open, it saw that the other side was grey like metal. Strange. Inside, the wrapping was a brown bar. It sniffed at it in curiosity. It smelled good. Perhaps it was food. Taking a small bite, its tongue began to tingle. It was good, and affected its mouth similar to the orange things from yesterday, but slightly stronger.  </p><p>     It looked at the rest of the stuff displayed around it. This must all be food. It was surprised that humans would just leave out food for the taking. Its stomach rumbled as it stared. Surely, it could take some to feed itself. It started to gather several different food items into its arms. It had no idea what any of them were. </p><p>     It moved further to the back to where several glass doors lined the wall. There were dozens of small containers behind each door. Some of them had water, but others had different colored liquids. Some were orange while others were dark brown. Carefully, it opened one of the doors and grabbed one with water and one with dark liquid. It had to readjust its arms to avoid dropping anything </p><p>     When it decided that it couldn’t carry anymore, it looked around. There was a small hallway in the corner that led to two doors. By each door, there was a sign with a white figure. One resembled a person, and the other had the head of a person, but the lower half was shaped weirdly. Similar to the bottom of a lab coat. It had no idea what they meant, so it pushed open one of the doors. There was a sink close to the door and two sections that were separated by walls. Inside were toilets. </p><p>     The place smelled terrible. Deciding that this room wouldn’t be a great place to hide out for the time being, it left. It made its way to the front of the building. Before it could reach the door, someone shouted out for it to stop. It turned to the man that it had seen earlier, but when it did, the guy backed away. A look of terror was on his face. 05953234 tilted its head. It didn’t know why the man was scared, because it wasn’t going to attack or anything. It decided to ignore the man and exited the building. </p><p>     Now to figure out where it should stay. It only made it a couple of steps before a loud bang rang out. Something burst through the wall right next to its head, leaving a hole. It didn’t take long to realize that it was being shot at. It saw a man holding a rifle and yelling something at it. Instincts told it to grab its pistol, but it couldn’t move any of its arms without dropping its stuff. Not to mention that it couldn’t afford to waste any of its bullets. </p><p>     So, it ran as fast as it could away from the human. There was another shot fired at it, and it could almost feel the bullet speed past its ear. It kept running until it was sure it was far away enough from the man. It was hiding behind one of the brown pillars with the green things on it. It laid everything on the ground to count how much it had. Minus the one it had already opened, it had ten food items, water, and the brown liquid. It took a sip of the water. If it’s careful, it could ration it out to last for a couple of days. </p><p>     What would it do when it ran out? It couldn’t just go back, not with the man with the gun still there. It nibbled on the brown bar. Maybe it should wait until night to go back. It could check out some of the other buildings while the humans slept. All it needed to do was wait. So, it just sat there watching things go by from the white stuff on the ceiling to the creatures scurrying about. Air began blowing again, causing the green things to rustle.  </p><p>     Hours had passed until 05953234 felt even hungrier. It looked over its options and selected one that looked like a piece of bread with a white spread over it. It took a bite of it, and its eyes widened. It was really good. It took another bite. It eyed the brown liquid and reached for the container. It unscrewed the lid and took a sip. The best way to describe the feeling it gave its throat was a burning sensation, but a burning that doesn’t hurt. How does a burn not hurt? It took another sip. The taste itself wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t all that great either.  </p><p>     It placed the container on the ground and lifted the bread to its mouth. </p><p>     “Hey!” </p><p>     It looked to see that the voice belonged to the black-haired man from yesterday. The other two men were right behind him. This saved 05953234 the trouble of having to find them, but what were they doing here? 05953234 caught sight of their weapons held firmly in their hands. Oh, they came to finish it off. But why now when they could have done it earlier? </p><p>     “So, you’re the one going around stealing food,” the black-haired one said. </p><p>     Stealing? What did he mean stealing? </p><p>     “I told you that you should have finished it. It’s only been a day, and he’s already causing trouble,” the biggest man said. He had long dark hair and amber eyes. </p><p>     Oh, so stealing was a bad thing, it seemed. How was it stealing? It looked down at the bread. Maybe it had something to do with this. Then it clicked. The food was only meant for humans, not MTs. Of course, they came here to kill it. It did something wrong. </p><p>     “What should we do with him?” the black-haired one asked the third one. The third one was wearing something on his face that looked similar to what one of the scientists had worn. His hair was blonde but not blonde like its hair. It was darker, also the front of the hair was sticking up. Weird. </p><p>     While they were discussing what to do, 05953234’s hand drifted towards its pistol. It could use this chance to take out this Noctis person. But which one was Noctis? Maybe it was the big one. That would make sense. A giant blade was pointed at it as its hand reached its gun. </p><p>     “Don’t move,” the big one said. </p><p>     Before 05953234 could do anything, a loud sound rang out. It jumped to its feet and pulled out its gun. Looking in the direction of the source, it saw that it was a creature. Multiple creatures, to be in fact. They were white and had sharp teeth. There was a large claw on each front foot. </p><p>     “Flexitusks!<b> ” </b> </p><p>     They looked like they were ready to kill. 05953234 lifted its gun and looked at the three men. Their eyes shifted from the flexitusks to it, as if they were trying to decide who to deal with first. One of the flexitusks leaped at them, but the big one blocked the attack before pushing it back. 05953234 aimed at one of them and looked at the other humans. The black-haired one met its eyes and nodded at it. </p><p>     The black-haired one and the other human joined the big one in battle. 05953234 moved to another spot to get a better line of sight. It fired at one the creatures, and it turned its attention towards it. It pounced at 05953234, but 05953234 ducked out of the way. It fired a few times, and two of the bullets had hit the body of the creature. This thing was not going to go down easily. It took several more shots to finally kill the flexitusk. </p><p>     It looked over to see the big one fending off two of them, so it decided to help weaken one of them. Eventually, the dark blonde one came over to help the big one. This made it a bit harder to shoot without hitting either of the humans. It looked around for another target and saw the black-haired one fighting another flexitusk. He was disappearing and reappearing as he had done before. Strange, the others weren’t doing that. Something caught its eye. A flexitusk was eyeing the black-haired one like it was trying to find the best moment to strike. </p><p>     It pulled the trigger, but all it got was a clicking sound. Out of bullets. A flexitusk started running to the black-haired one while his back was turned. Without thinking, it pushed the man away just as the creature jumped at him. It ended up sinking its teeth through the metal of the armor and into 05953234’s shoulder. It let out a small cry before gritting its teeth. It tried to shake the creature off to no avail. Suddenly, the creature stopped moving. It saw a blade sticking up from the flexitusk’s head. It pushed it off and got up. It gripped its shoulder. </p><p>     “You saved me. Why?”  </p><p>     05953234 wondered the same thing. Why had it saved him? It had no idea why it was helping them. It would have been a good opportunity to kill them while they were distracted.  </p><p>     “Regardless, we do appreciate your help,” the dark blonde one said. He extended his arm out to 05953234. In his hand, was one of those containers filled with light blue liquid. “For your wound.” </p><p>     The big one made a disapproving sound. 05953234 hesitantly took it from the man’s hand. It was about to unscrew the top but was interrupted.  </p><p>     “What are you doing? You supposed to crush it,” the black-haired one said. </p><p>     05953234 tilted its head. How was crushing it supposed to help? It would only make a mess. It crushed the container anyway, and the liquid disappeared. It felt a similar sensation like before, and the pain dulled. </p><p>     “So, why’d you steal anyway?” the black-haired one asked. 05953234 tilted its head. There was that word again. Oh right, the human food it had taken. That’s why they were here in the first place, to punish it. </p><p>     “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” the big one said. </p><p>     05953234 didn’t understand what he meant by that. Nothing had its tongue. Still, it touched its tongue to make sure. Still there. Something made a growling sound, and it realized that it was coming from its stomach.  </p><p>     “Maybe we could give—” </p><p>     “Absolutely not! This is a weapon of the empire, not some stray cat you can feed,” the big one said. </p><p>     “But—” </p><p>     “No, it could attack you the moment you have your guard down. I’m not risking it.” </p><p>     “Unless we have him tied up,” the dark blonde one recommended. </p><p>     “What are you suggesting, Iggy?” </p><p>     “Simply that we restrain him and take him with us. Who knows, we might be able to get some information on the empire.” </p><p>     “I still think it’s too dangerous.” </p><p>     “Would you rather have an MT running around bothering shopkeepers?” </p><p>     The big one let out a huff as some rope appeared out of thin air. He pulled 05953234’s arms behind its back and tied them up. 05953234 was too focused on the fact they were capturing it. They were no doubt going to torture it for information, and it’s not even trying to resist. All that training and it still turned out to be a failure. </p><p>     It wasn’t like it had much valuable information about the empire to give them. Not like it could tell them this anyways. All the units had been absolutely forbidden to speak. 05953234 had done enough that would warrant it getting disciplined, but talking was something it knew never to do. A familiar feeling washed over it. It had felt it a few times in the past when it had been smaller and led to an unknown room.  </p><p>     “What’s your name?” the black-haired one asked. 05953234 only looked at him. It was able to get a good look at his eyes that were partially hidden beneath his hair. They were blue, which reminded it of the ceiling above, except darker. “Can’t you talk?” </p><p>     “We’ll get him to talk later. Let’s go,” the big one said. It felt a push from behind, so it started walking. It followed the others to the black thing he had seen them in yesterday. The dark blonde one told them to wait while he went somewhere. He returned ten minutes later. </p><p>     “Well, we may have to spend the night at a haven seeing as I had to spend most of our funds replacing the stolen merchandise.” </p><p>     “No complaints from me,” the big one said. He sounded almost pleased they were going to this haven place. The dark blonde one turned to 05953234. </p><p>     “I also bought you some ointment for that sunburn on your face. A potion can do so much.” </p><p>     Of the doors to the black thing was opened, and it was pushed inside. Next to it sat the big one, and the other two sat upfront.  </p><p>     “Don’t try anything,” the big one warned. Soon the thing was moving, and the air was rushing past them. 05953234 sat there trying to ignore the big one’s glare as it looked around. Eventually, it settled to watching everything rush past them. It needed to find a way to survive this. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Come say hi to me on tumblr or twitter- sauri5 ^.^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   <em>   “Hm, only three failures this time? Three too many.” </em> </p><p><em>      “Sir, here is the report of the latest batch.” </em> </p><p><em>      A man with blond hair that looked almost white took a folder from the scientist.  </em> </p><p><em>      “With any luck, we may find a way to eliminate the chance of scourge rejection completely.”  </em> </p><p><em>      The man looked down at the small units. One dared to look up at him. The man’s face was blurry, but it could make out the look of disgust on his face. It quickly went back to looking forward. The man then left never to be seen again, and the units were ushered to get ready for transport. </em> </p><p>   “We’re here.” </p><p>     05953234 was disturbed from its memory to see the big one getting out. He motioned for it to get out as well, which it did. They had to walk a bit to get to this haven place. Nobody really said anything on the way there. It only took them several minutes to reach it. They went up the hill, and one of the humans made stuff appear out of nowhere and into his arms. The big one behind it mentioned setting up something called a tent.</p><p>     The ceiling started to change colors again. It was shifting from blue to orange, and there was even some slight pink too. It was hard to find the right word to describe how 05953234 thought it looked. It briefly wondered if it was possible that the ceiling could take on any other colors but shook away the thought.</p><p>     There were markings on the ground, but it wasn’t sure what they meant. The moment it stepped over the threshold pain wracked through its body. It was like the prickly sensation it would get when it had needed the injection. However, this time the feeling was a lot stronger. 05953234 had no idea why it was hurting, because this shouldn’t be happening for another couple of days. Was this how they planned to gather information from it? It started to scratch its face in an attempt to get its brain to focus more on that than on the pain. It even tried scratching through its armor to get to the skin. </p><p>     The pain kept getting worse the longer 05953234 stayed there, but it hurt too much to move. It was difficult to comprehend its surroundings, but it thought it heard voices shouting. They sounded far away. It let out a shout as it felt like its own body was trying to escape itself. It wasn’t sure when it had happened, but it found itself on its knees. At some point, black sludge fell from its mouth and onto the ground. It couldn’t stop itself from feeling scared. Something wet slid down its cheek. </p><p>     <em> Make it stop. Please. </em> </p><p>     05953234 barely registered someone standing right next to him or a hand touching its back. Everything started spinning, and soon it was lying on its side. The last thing it saw before blacking out was deep blue eyes filled with concern. </p><p>
  <strike> -------------   </strike>
</p><p>     The first thing 05953234 felt upon waking up was that it was very warm. It slowly opened its eyes and didn’t recognize where it was. It immediately became alert and tried to sit up before a voice stopped it. </p><p>     “Take it easy. You still getting over your fever.” </p><p>     The dirty blonde one was talking to it as he kneeled beside it. It sat all the way up, and something fell into its lap. It was a rag. A sigh came from the man, who gently placed a hand on its shoulder. It flinched slightly, but if the man noticed, he didn’t say anything. He pushed 05953234 back down. The man removed the rag from its lap and brought another one to its face. It tried to shrink away, which was hard to do lying down. Was he going to smother it with the cloth? </p><p>     It closed its eyes only to feel something cold and wet on its forehead. It opened its eyes to stare at the man. Instead of harming it, he only placed the rag on his head. It was so confused. Shouldn’t he be hurting it to get it to talk? Not that it would do much good since it had been trained to stay silent. A cup was placed to its lips, urging it to take a sip. It didn’t realize how thirsty it was until it took a drink. Some of the water escaped and slid down its chin. The cup was pulled away, but it wanted more. The cup was replaced by something else, and an odd-tasting liquid entered its mouth. It swallowed the liquid and smacked its lips.</p><p>     “You were out for almost two days. We’ve been trying to keep your fever down. I am pleased to see that you’re doing better.” </p><p>     05953234 was still confused as to why he was taking care of it. It was just an MT. Looking around, it saw that it was still at the haven place. There were a couple of chairs, a table, and a small structure. There was no one else around besides those two. It was resting outside on some blankets. They felt soft against its skin. Wait. It looked underneath the blanket to see that it was wearing nothing but its black tank top and undergarments. Its armor was nowhere to be found. It felt vulnerable around the human. As if he could read its mind, he handed it a pair of black pants. </p><p>     “I’m afraid I had to dispose of your armor. You seem to be around the same size as his highness, so it will hopefully fit.” </p><p>     05953234 stared at him for a bit before tentatively taking the pants. The man walked away towards a table. It looked at the pants for a minute before slipping them on. They felt rather comfortable. It continued to lie there while the man was working on something. It was starting to get dark when the dark-haired one and the big one showed up. </p><p>     “I trust everything went well?” the dirty blond one inquired. </p><p>     “Yeah, it wasn’t much of a challenge,” the dark-haired one replied. </p><p>     “I saw you struggling,” the big one said. </p><p>     “Did not.” </p><p>     “Whatever you say, princess.” </p><p>     The black-haired one rolled his eyes and looked at 05953234. </p><p>     “Oh hey, you’re up.” </p><p>     “He still has a fever but is doing better. I gave him a pair of your pants to wear if that’s all right with you.” </p><p>     “Yeah, that’s fine.” </p><p>     “Dinner is almost ready. Tonight’s meal is vegetable soup.” </p><p>     “Ugh, really?” </p><p>     “We don’t have many supplies left. We’re going to need to restock tomorrow.” </p><p>     Noctis nodded nonchalantly and returned his focus to 05953234. </p><p>     “Hey, how are you doing?” he asked it. It didn’t respond. “Oh, uh, I’m Noctis. That’s Ignis, and the big guy over there is Gladiolus.” </p><p>     “You can just call me Gladio.” </p><p>     It blinked at him. The black-haired one was Noctis? From what he had been told, Noctis was supposed to be the king. Wasn’t a king the leader? It would have assumed one of the other two to have that rank. </p><p>     “What’s your name?” </p><p>     Its name? It didn’t have a name. Shouldn’t he know that MTs weren’t given any?  </p><p>     “What are the Niffs planning?” the big one, er, Gladio, asked.  </p><p>     It had no idea what he meant by “Niffs.” Gladio glared with his arms crossed, and it was making 05953234 slightly uncomfortable. Thankfully, Ignis announced that dinner was ready. While everyone was getting their bowl, it couldn’t help but be drawn to the smell of the food. Its stomach growled. </p><p>     Ignis approached it with some soup. He placed on the ground before untying its hands. He then picked up the bowl and held it out for 05953234 to take. It stared wide-eyed at him. It was their prisoner, so why was he giving it food? When it didn’t grab the bowl, Ignis sighed and placed it next to it. He placed a hand on its forehead and told it to eat slowly. He went to join the others. </p><p>     05953234 looked down at its bowl of soup. It was a dark liquid that had yellow and green bits. There were also some round orange pieces. Should it eat? Would it be okay? Now that it was around humans, there was a possibility that the knowledge that it ate without permission would travel back to its superiors. Its superiors... they never treated any of the units nicely. Nowhere near as nice as these humans. That part still confused it, but it made it feel something it wasn’t used to feeling. It was nice. </p><p>     Laughter caused it to look up at the three men, who were talking excitedly about something. Noctis rolled his eyes at something Gladio had said. A terrifying thought entered 05953234’s mind. It momentarily considered making these three its new superiors, but that would mean betraying the empire. And for what? Because they had given it some soup? </p><p>     But they hadn’t reprimanded it for malfunctioning but instead provided it with food. Its old superiors would have declared it faulty and thrown it away. Not to mention, it couldn’t go too long without orders. Orders give it guidance, a purpose. Perhaps, these humans can provide it just that. So, 05953234 made up its mind to designated Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio as its new superior officers.  </p><p>     There was still the issue that it was currently their prisoner. It somehow had to prove to them that it was going to follow their commands for now on. Hopefully, they would realize soon. It was going to show that it could a good soldier that could obey all their orders perfectly. There was room for messing up this time. And who knew, maybe its reward for being obedient would be something even better. Something like two bowls of soup. It sat up straight and looked at the three expectantly. His eyes met Noctis's own. </p><p>     “Are you going to eat or what?” </p><p>     05953234 only stared at him. Did he want it to eat? </p><p>     “Eat it, or it’ll get cold,” Gladio said. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice. </p><p>     With what seemed like a command, it scooped out some soup with the spoon. The moment the liquid touched its tongue, its eyes widened. The soup tasted like nothing it had ever experienced before. There was so much flavor. Granted, everything it had had recently had more flavor than the bland meals provided in the facility. It took another spoonful, and before it knew it, the bowl was empty. 05953234 was a little disappointed that the food was gone so soon, but it was left with a warm feeling. </p><p>     “Would you like some more? We have plenty,” Ignis said. It looked at him in surprise. It was being offered more food despite not doing anything worthy of being rewarded. These humans were strange, but it preferred them over his old superiors. His bowl was filled with seconds, and Noctis came up right next to it. </p><p>     “Noct,” Gladio said, in a warning tone.  </p><p>     “Relax, if he wanted to do something, he would have done it already.” </p><p>     Noctis started to scoop his orange and light green pieces into its bowl. </p><p>     “Noct, eat your vegetables,” Ignis scolded. </p><p>     “I’m just making sure that he has enough to eat. Look at him. He looks like he hasn’t had anything in days.” </p><p>     05953234 only sat there in amazement at how generous they were being. They were probably expecting perfect performance in return. It ate slowly this time, savoring the taste. </p><p>     “Good, huh?” Noctis said. It nodded in reply. “Yeah, Iggy makes the best food.” </p><p>     There was a comfortable silence while they ate. It looked up to see that Noctis was staring at him. How long was he staring at it? It was supposed to have noticed that he needed its attention sooner. Wasn’t it? It chastised itself for being oblivious. </p><p>     “So, are you going to tell me your name or what?” he asked. Oh, he’s asking about that again. It somehow needed to have to explain that MTs don’t have human names. “Are you unable to talk?” </p><p>     Now this question made 05953234 think a little. It could vaguely remember using its voice when it was smaller. But now, it wasn’t sure if it still could. </p><p>     “Try it.” </p><p>     It looked at him with apprehension. It had always been either utter silence or a trip to the correction room. But those were old rules from its old superiors. Its new orders were to speak, so maybe it would okay to try. It hesitantly opened its mouth.  </p><p>     “Y-yes, sir,” it croaked out. Its voice sounded foreign to it. Its heart raced as it looked at Noctis to see if it would end up being punished. Noctis looked dumbfounded. Perhaps, it hadn’t said the right thing. </p><p>     “You don’t need to call me ‘sir’ or anything. Noctis is fine.” </p><p>     “Yes, sir,” it replied. Noctis frowned. “I mean, Noctis!” </p><p>     “So, what do I call you?” </p><p>     “Unit 05953234.” </p><p>     “Uni— what? That’s not a name.” </p><p>     “MTs don’t have names like humans. We are given unit numbers as a form of identification.” </p><p>     05953234 pointed to the barcode tattooed on its wrist. </p><p>     “But you’re... never mind. You’re going to need think of something else to call yourself, because I’m not calling you that.” </p><p>     Something else to call itself? It didn’t know what was wrong with its current designation, but if they want to assign it something else, then so be it. It waited for one of them to provide it with a new designation, but no one did.  </p><p>     “We can decide on a name tomorrow. It’s getting late,” Ignis said. </p><p>     Everyone did what they needed to do to get ready for bed. Gladio approached it with the rope to bind its hands.  </p><p>     “You’re not going to make him sleep outside again, are you?” Noctis questioned. </p><p>     “I still don’t trust him enough to let him in such close proximity while we’re sleeping. Don’t give me that look. I’m only doing my job.” </p><p>     “Can he at least sleep in the Regalia?” </p><p>     “He could sabotage it.” </p><p>     “He won’t.” </p><p>     “How do you know that?” </p><p>     “I just do.” </p><p>     05953234 watched as the two stared at each other. Their chain of command was confusing, to say the least. Noctis was supposed to be the highest-ranking officer, but Gladio seemed to be challenging him without consequences. So, was Gladio above him?  </p><p>     “Gladio’s right, we still need to be careful, but perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to give him a place to sleep tonight. Especially since he saved Noctis,” Ignis intervened. Before Gladio could give a rebuttal, Ignis continued. “If he does prove to be a threat, then we’ll make sure he’ll regret it.” </p><p>     Gladio grumbled and led 05953234 to the machine that was called the Regalia. He opened the door. </p><p>     “Get in.” </p><p>     It nodded and obediently entered the car. The door closed, and it was left alone.  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Morning came, and Ignis came by to check on 05953234, who was doing better. </p><p>     “You’re already up.” </p><p>     It nodded. Of course, it was up. It had never gone to sleep without them allowing it. He permitted it to leave the car to eat. Gladio came to running to them. Perhaps, he had been on patrol and had spotted something, so he had come running back. Though no one said anything, so maybe he hadn’t found anything alarming. Looking around, Noctis couldn’t be seen anywhere. He was probably on patrol too. </p><p>     “Breakfast is almost ready. Could you please wake up Noctis?” Ignis asked Gladio. </p><p>     “I’ll see what I can do.” </p><p>     He went inside the small structure and eventually emerged along with a yawning Noctis. They sat down once they got their meal. 05953234 was also given some food. Even though it had been given some the night before, it was still surprised. It had just finished its plate when Noctis approached much to Gladio’s objections. </p><p>     “Do you play King’s Knight?” </p><p>     It looked confused as it shook its head. </p><p>     “What games have you played?” </p><p>     It shook its head again. </p><p>     “Seriously?” </p><p>     Noctis took out a small metal device. </p><p>     “Here, this is King’s Knight. You play it on a phone. See?” </p><p>     He made this King’s Knight appear on this phone of his. Words flashed on the screen before it was replaced by people. Some wore heavy armor. 05953234 stared in awe and pointed at the screen. Noctis nodded as he tapped the screen repeatedly, causing the people to start moving around. </p><p>     “Noct, I think it’s time to ask him some questions,” Ignis said, interrupting them. </p><p>     Noctis sighed before putting away his phone. </p><p>     “What can you tell us about the empire?” Ignis inquired. </p><p>     “Um...” 05953234 said. </p><p>     “What’s their next move?” Gladio asked. </p><p>     “I... don’t know.” </p><p>     “They didn’t give you special orders? You didn’t happen to overhear an important conversation?” </p><p>     “What? No. The only orders they gave me was to kill you. I never left the facility until I was given my mission. I don’t know much about the empire beyond being told to serve. I’m sorry.” </p><p>     “What facility?” Noctis asked. </p><p>     “The place where failed MTs are sent so that we may still have some use.” <br/>     The three men looked confused. </p><p>     “What do you mean by 'failed MTs?'” Ignis questioned. </p><p>     “Sometime after creation, clones will go through daemonification and used to power the troopers. But some clones fail to go through this process successfully. Those go to the facility for training and testing.” </p><p>     They just stared at it in astonishment. </p><p>     “Daemonification? Clones?” Noctis asked. </p><p>     05953234 was confused by their lack of knowledge. Did they not know that about MTs? </p><p>     “Yes? Do you really not know that? Everybody knows about how MTs are made,” it replied. It soon realized its mistake and bowed its head. “That was rude of me. I’m sorry!” </p><p>     “It’s quite all right. So, they use clones in their magitek army. Interesting,” Ignis said. </p><p>     “So, the MTs, do they all look like you?” Noctis asked. </p><p>     “Only those who weren’t able to complete the process. Actual MTs are just wires underneath.”  </p><p>     “Just when you think the Niffs couldn’t get any worse,” Gladio said. </p><p>     “But, some of them we’ve killed are like you?” Noctis asked, looking at the ground.  </p><p>     “If they were assigned to those squads, yes.”  </p><p>     Noctis cursed. He appeared troubled, but 05953234 didn’t know why.</p><p>     “What occurs in this facility?” Ignis inquired.</p><p>     “Conditioning and extensive training mainly. All units also go through testing and are injected with daemon blood.” </p><p>     The three men looked at each other. </p><p>     “Why the hell are they giving you daemon blood?” Gladio asked. </p><p>     “It provides some advantages like quicker reflexes and seeing in the dark.” </p><p>     “I guess that explains your face looks like that.” </p><p>     “Here I thought it was deadly for humans,” Ignis said. </p><p>     “We’re modified.” </p><p>     Noctis stood up and walked off. </p><p>     “Well, I think it’s about time we head out.” </p><p>     Everyone packed up their supplies, and Ignis came over to hand 05953234 something. It was the paper that had the yellow creature on it. </p><p>     “I believe this is yours. I found it on you when we brought you to camp. I thought you’d want it back.” </p><p>     It almost took it but shook its head in denial. </p><p>     “Not mine.” </p><p>     “Are you sure?” </p><p>     It nodded its head and looked away. It didn't own it, and the paper wasn't anything valuable anyway. Nothing more was said on the matter. Its hands were bound again. They piled into the Regalia and drove off. </p><p>------ </p><p>     “You’re sure it was around here?” Ignis asked. </p><p>     “That’s what we heard,” Gladio answered. </p><p>     The Regalia came to a stop, and the four of them exited the vehicle. They walked to the entrance of where the mines were. There was an elevator available to take them down.  </p><p>     “Wait, are we really going to take him with us?” Gladio asked, pointing at 05953234. </p><p>     “Um, yeah?” Noctis replied. Gladio gave him a look, and Noctis rolled his eyes. “What do you want us to do? Leave him in the car in the heat?” </p><p>     Gladio looked away while rubbing the back of his head. </p><p>     “All right, let’s just go,” he said. </p><p>     They entered the elevator and descended. When the elevator stopped, Gladio asked if they should go further down, which Noctis declined. The doors opened, and they ran further into the mines. It was rather dark, and 05953234 couldn’t see as well as it should have been able to. It should probably request more daemon blood soon. From what it could make out, there were long metal lines with brown planks connecting them. An odd-looking metal cart rested on top. </p><p>There was a loud rumbling sound, and the metal cart came rushing from behind. </p><p>     “Something’s coming towards us!” Ignis exclaimed. </p><p>     The cart came rushing back. A couple of small creatures showed up. They had grey skin and a long red hat. There wasn’t much 05953234 could do. Its hands were tied, and it didn’t have its pistol anymore. The creatures were finished off, and the four of them continued going down into the mines.  </p><p>     They walked through long, narrow hallways, and some more of those creatures showed up. Eventually, they reached an area with a walkway and had fans spinning in the ceiling. A large man wearing weird clothes stood in front of them before suddenly appearing next to Noctis. He wasn’t exactly a man, but 05953234 wasn’t sure what he was. The man had a long blade, which he used to slash at him. Fortunately, Noctis dodged the attack, and they all fell to the ground below them.  </p><p>     Even more of those small creatures showed up and surrounded them. Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio brought out their weapons. They began fighting, and Noctis came up to 05953234. He cut the rope and held out its pistol.  </p><p>     “Can I trust you?” </p><p>     Finally, 05953234 would be able to show its worth. A warm feeling filled its chest at the opportunity. It nodded, not letting its eagerness show. </p><p>     “Yes!” </p><p>     It took the gun, and the two joined the others in battle. It fired at the creatures and managed to take down one of them before another started to run at it. It shot at creature a couple of times, and the creature took a swipe at it. It dodged and fired a couple more times before it finally killed it.  </p><p>     “How the hell did you get a gun?” Gladio asked. One of the creatures came up behind him. 05953234 shot managed to kill it. “Nice shot.” </p><p>     They eventually took care of all the enemies in the area and continued forward. The rest of the mines felt like it went on forever, especially with enemies appearing left and right. They eventually reached an open space where the tall man was. The fight against the enemy was tough, but they eventually defeated him. </p><p>     “Let’s take a look around,” Gladio said. </p><p>     Looking around involved going up a few flights of stairs and squeezing through a narrow passage. They came across a large metal door, which Noctis opened. Inside, there was a table with someone lying completely still on top of it. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a person at all. Noctis stood in front of the table and held out his hand. There was a crossbow that started glowing and rose in the air. Then it went straight towards his chest. It and a few other translucent weapons circled around him and then disappeared. 05953234 was baffled that Noctis didn’t have any wounds. It briefly wondered if the others could do that too. </p><p>     They all left the mines and wandered back to the Regalia. </p><p>     “You’re a good shot. I guess that was part of your training?” Noctis asked.  </p><p>     “Yes.” </p><p>     When they reached the Regalia, they all got inside. Surprisingly, it wasn’t tied up again. Though, it still had to sit in the back next to Gladio.  They Ignis started up the Regalia and drove off. Where they were going, it had no clue. </p><p>     “Let’s get a bite to eat,” Noctis said. </p><p>     “Anywhere in particular?” Ignis questioned. </p><p>     “The Crow’s Nest, I guess.” </p><p>     “Sounds good to me,” Gladio said. </p><p>     Noctis turned around in his seat to look at 0595324. </p><p>     “You like burgers? You look like someone who likes burgers.” </p><p>     It didn’t understand what he was talking about. Not knowing how to respond, it hesitantly nodded in hopes that was the right response.  </p><p>     “Then you’re going to like this place. They got awesome burgers.” </p><p>     “That’s debatable,” Ignis commented. </p><p>     They pulled up to a white and red building that had a large sign. On the sign had a head of a weird creature. They got out of the car and entered the building. There was a long counter in the front with several small, round chairs. The rest of the place had larger red seats along the wall, with tables in between them. The group went to the counter where the was a guy standing behind it. High on the wall behind the man, were more signs.  </p><p>     The guy was staring wide-eyed at 05953234, and Ignis cleared his throat to get his attention. They began to tell him things, and when they were done, they looked at it. </p><p>     “Are you going to order?” Noctis asked. </p><p>     It was confused. It was created to follow orders, not give them. Why was he asking it this? </p><p>     “It’s not my place to give orders.” </p><p>     “Just look at the menu and tell him what you want, Blondie,” Gladio said. </p><p>     It didn’t know what to do with his new order. They should be deciding whatever it is that needs to be decided. Should it pick something random from this menu thing? Was the thing on the wall the menu? 05953235 couldn’t read any of it said, so it couldn’t choose anything random. Its anxiety began to spike. Sighing, Ignis ordered for it instead. It felt relieved.  </p><p>     Once the food was ready, they sat down on a couple of the red seats. It and Ignis sat on one side while Noctis and Gladio sat on the other. Food was placed in front of him, and it almost reminded him of the sandwich from the facility. Except, it had more stuff in it. The bread was round and had tiny white things on the top. Lifting the bread, there were two slices of red things, something green and something dark brown beneath that. Under the top piece of bread, there was red and yellow paste spread across it. </p><p>     Looking up, it saw Gladio and Ignis eating their food while Noctis was picking out the red and green stuff. It slowly lifted the sandwich to its mouth and took a bite. It was good. It was really good. </p><p>     “See? I told you this place had great burgers.” </p><p>     05953234 nodded in response. So, this was a burger. While it liked this burger, it didn’t like how the bottom piece of bread was getting smaller than the top half. It looked like the stuff was going to slip out from the burger. Once it was done eating the burger, it tried what Noctis said were fries. They were salty and tasted better with the red paste. Then there was the dark liquid that was similar to what it had the other day. After a couple of sips, it got used to the weird sensation the drink gave its throat. Pressure was building in its chest and traveling up. Suddenly a loud noise erupted from its mouth. It quickly covered its mouth, unsure what had just happened. Noctis and Gladio began to laugh while Ignis mentioned something about manners. </p><p>     After they were all done eating, Noctis pulled 05953234 over to one end of the place where there was a colorful machine. </p><p>     “I’m guessing you’ve never played Justice Monsters Five before?” he asked. It shook its head. “Here, it’s pretty simple.” </p><p>     He gave it a quick tutorial before inserting something into the machine. It watched as the ball bounced around hitting enemies. The enemies vanished only for new ones to appear. They seemed to be endless. It then stared at Noctis’s face, which had a look of complete concentration. It noticed the way his eyebrows furrowed and how he would bite his lip occasionally. A small smile appeared on his face as he took a step back from the machine. </p><p>     “Not bad. Now, you try.” </p><p>     05953234 now stood in front of the machine, which started back up. It had no idea what it should be doing, so it started to press the buttons that it had seen Noctis pushing. Noctis was telling it what it should be doing, but it was still confused. The session didn’t last that long. By the look on his face, it hadn’t done as well as he would’ve liked.  </p><p>     “Here, try again.” </p><p>     He inserted more stuff into the machine. This time, it managed to do better. After the session was over, Noctis looked somewhat pleased. He raised his hand in the air. It tilted its head in confusion. Was he going to hit it?  </p><p>     “What? No high five?” </p><p>     It was still confused. Noctis grabbed its hand and lifted it until it was the same height as his hand before letting go. He smacked his hand against 05953234’s hand. This was a high five.  </p><p>     “Come on, we best be going,” Ignis said. </p><p>     05953234 stared at its hand before following the others out of the Crow’s Nest. Before they got to the car, Gladio got everyone’s attention. </p><p>     “Before we go anywhere, we need to decide what to do with him?” </p><p>     He pointed to it. </p><p>     “What do you mean?” Noctis asked. </p><p>     “What I mean is there’s no point in keeping him around. He said it himself that he doesn’t know much about the empire.” </p><p>     “Yea, but you saw him back there. He’s great with a gun. He could help us out with hunts and stuff.” </p><p>     05953234 stood there in fear. They were going to get rid of it. What did it do wrong? Noctis said it was skilled with its pistol. Were they going to abandon it somewhere? Or were they going to terminate it? Maybe they would hand it back over to the empire, who would handle that. It clenched its fists before getting down on its knees. </p><p>     “Please, if I have done something wrong, I’m sorry! I can be an obedient soldier. I promise. Please don’t dispose of me!” </p><p>     Noctis pulled it up to its feet. </p><p>     “Calm down. No one’s getting rid of you.” </p><p>     Gladio tugged Noctis away, and the two, along with Ignis, walked away to talk privately. A few minutes passed before they returned. </p><p>     “How do we know if you’re going to betray us and run off back to the empire?” Gladio questioned. </p><p>     “I won’t! I promise. I’m never going back. I can’t go back...” </p><p>     “And what happens when we come across your MT buddies? Are you going to hesitate killing them?” </p><p>     “If you order me to fight them, I will.”</p><p>     "It's our job to protect his majesty over here. If you prove to be a danger, then you're gone. Understood?"</p><p>     It nodded.</p><p>     “See?” Noctis said to Gladio. He wrapped an arm around 05953234. “It’s decided. You’re stuck with us now.” </p><p>     “Well then, now that everything’s settled, let’s be off,” Ignis said. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm working up to the chocobos I swear ;.;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This ended up being longer than usual, lol whoops</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Another day had passed since 05953234 had been allowed to stay with the group. It still had to sit in the back of the Regalia, but it hadn’t minded. It felt like now it could have a purpose. They had just finished another mission, which they called a hunt. Unfortunately, 05953234 was starting to feel exhausted. It had gone yet another night without sleep, and all the fighting had used up quite a bit of energy. </p><p>     It had to quickly stifle a yawn so the others wouldn’t notice. It could pull through, or so it thought. The moment it sat down in the car, its eyelids started feeling heavy. It gripped its leg tightly in hopes the pain would keep it alert. It had no idea why it was fighting so hard not to sleep. It had gone longer without sleeping before. Fingernails dug deep into its leg, which would probably leave indents. It tried to keep its head up, but slumber eventually won out in the end. </p><p>~~~ </p><p>     <em> 05953234 pressed up against the glass while it stared at the humans that were searching the room. They were neither the scientists nor </em> <em> MTs. </em> <em> They were dressed funny too. Their clothes almost all black, with masks covering half their faces. They were unknowns, and that frightened it. There were four of them, and who knows what it was that they were looking for.  </em> </p><p><em>      What if they were here to check on the units? 05953234 moved to the back of the container and tried to make itself smaller than it already was. It had just come back from reconditioning. Granted, it had been its fault for crying, but it wasn’t looking to back any time soon. It tried to control its breathing as if they would somehow be able to hear it.  </em> </p><p><em>      One of them was walking closer to it. The human was a man with short, brown hair and a serious look on his face. It stayed extremely still. They made eye contact, and the man stopped. They stared at each other for what felt like hours. The man was about to take a step forward, but the alarm began to sound. The four humans fled the room, and 05953234 never saw them again. </em> </p><p>~~~ </p><p>     “Hey, wake up!” </p><p>     05953234 woke up with a start. They were parked near some buildings, but it didn’t remember arriving there. </p><p>     “Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but we got to go,” Gladio said. </p><p>     It froze in shock. “Sleep?” </p><p>     “Um, yeah? You sorta fell asleep on the drive here.” </p><p>     It started to shake in fear before gripping its hair tightly. It had fallen asleep without being allowed it to do so. It was surely in trouble now.  </p><p>     “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to.” </p><p>     “What’s going on?” Noctis asked.  </p><p>     “I don’t know. He just started apologizing.” </p><p>     “Are you okay?” </p><p>     It was at this point that 05953234 was curled up into a ball. It wasn’t responding to any of them. A gentle hand touched its shoulder, which caused it to jump in alarm. It looked up fearfully to see that it was Ignis. </p><p>     “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” it continued to mutter. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep without permission.” </p><p>     Ignis frowned. He was angry. He was angry because it had messed up.  </p><p>     “Why would you need permission to fall asleep?” </p><p>     “All units are required to follow orders. We are prohibited from doing anything without permission.” </p><p>     Noctis and Gladio looked at each other while Ignis sighed. </p><p>     “Listen, you do not need permission to do basic things like sleep.” </p><p>     “I don’t?” </p><p>     “No.” </p><p>     “Yeah, you’re not in that shitty place anymore, so you don’t have to follow any orders or anything,” Noctis chimed in. Ignis chastised him about language. 05953234 frowned. It didn’t have to follow orders? What else was it supposed to do? </p><p>     “I was created to follow orders!” </p><p>     “No one here is going to make you do that,” Ignis said. </p><p>     “But you all are my commanding officers, so you have to...” </p><p>     The three of them look at each other in surprise, with a hint of disgust. </p><p>     “That’s—” Ignis tried to come up with a response, but Gladio cut him off. </p><p>     “We’re not your ‘commanding officers,’ blondie.” </p><p>     “But you took me in, so that makes you all my superiors!” </p><p>     “We agreed to let you be a part of this group. However, we do not control you. Understand?” Ignis asked. </p><p>     05953234’s heart started racing. It suddenly became hard to breathe. So, they didn’t want to be its commanding officers? But they had let it stay with them? It was so confused, but more importantly, it was scared. If no one was going to provide it with instructions to follow, what was it to do? It needs to serve someone. It couldn't fathom functioning otherwise. Something wet was rolling down its cheeks. </p><p>     “Hey, look at me.” </p><p>     It looked up to see Ignis looking at it. His face had softened. He was holding its hands in his own. </p><p>     “Take deep breaths, okay?” </p><p>     It nodded. Deep breaths, it could do that. Eventually, with Ignis’s help, it was able to calm down.  </p><p>     “I’m supposed to be a machine design to follow the orders of humans. I can’t even be that.” </p><p>     Tears blurred its vision. </p><p>     “Believe me when I say that you are not a machine.” </p><p>     05953234 didn’t respond to his statement. Ignis coaxed it out of the car, so they could report that their hunt had been complete. Afterward, they decided to drive to a place called Lastellum. There were a lot of buildings in Lastellum, and a lot of people too. Some of the buildings had chairs and tables in front of them. There were a lot of different smells. The group eventually stopped in front of one that had giant blue letters on it. </p><p>     “Well, I’m off to go see my sister. You three have fun shopping,” Gladio said. </p><p>     Ignis nodded, and the three of them entered the store. The whole place was filled with clothes.  </p><p>     “Feel free to choose anything you want.” </p><p>     05953234 only stood there, unsure what it was supposed to be doing. Noctis grabbed its arm and dragged it over to one section of the room.  </p><p>     “Come on. I’ll help you.” </p><p>     Noctis selected a couple of shirts. One was an all-black, short-sleeved shirt, and the other was sleeveless that was black but had what looked like white claw marks.  </p><p>     “How about these?” </p><p>     “If they’re what you want to give me.” </p><p>     “But do you like these?” </p><p>     Noctis seemed like the shirts were good enough, so it must accept them. </p><p>     “Yes.” </p><p>     Noctis smiled at it. That was the right answer. </p><p>     “Noct, you’re supposed to be letting him choose for himself,” Ignis said. </p><p>     “What? He said he liked them.” </p><p>     “Are these what you want?” </p><p>     05953234 looked at the shirts, then at Noctis, then at Ignis. </p><p>     “I'll accept whatever you want to give me.” </p><p>     Ignis pinched the bridge of his nose. Not the right answer.  </p><p>     “It doesn’t matter what we want. These shirts will belong to you. You have to choose for yourself.” </p><p>     “But MTs don’t choose things for ourselves. Our superiors do that.” </p><p>     Noctis grabbed its shoulders and turned it to face him. He was frowning. </p><p>     “You’re a human, not an MT!” </p><p>     Of course, it was an MT. Had Noctis forgotten? Ignis gently pushed Noctis away and addressed 05953234. </p><p>     “How about this? I’ll place a few shirts in front of you, and you point to the one that stands out the most.” </p><p>     It nodded, and Ignis displayed the two shirts Noctis had picked as well a dark red shirt. The dark red shirt drew its eyes first, so it pointed to that one. Ignis took it away Noctis held up the remaining shirts. </p><p>     “Point to one.” </p><p>     It gestured to the one with the claw marks. The shirt was handed to Ignis, who gave Noctis an unimpressed look. The process was repeated multiple times until it had four shirts. Then, Noctis came up to them when a white shirt with a yellow thing on it. He held it up, and 05953234 saw that it looked like the yellow creature from the paper. Except, it looked different, less real looking.  </p><p>     “How about this one?” </p><p>     “Noctis.” </p><p>     “What? His hair looks like a chocobo butt. Besides, I think he likes it. </p><p>     It grabbed the shirt. The creature was located at the center, and there was small writing by the head. </p><p>     “You like chocobos?” </p><p>     “Chocobos?” </p><p>     “Yeah. That’s what that is, a chocobo.” </p><p>     It finally had a name to call them. It wondered if it would ever get to see one up close. </p><p>     “Well, if we’re done here, then let’s move on,” Ignis said. </p><p>     They did the same process of selecting pants as they did for the shirts. 05953234 was then led to the back of the room. There were a couple of doors, and it was instructed to go inside one and try on the clothes to see if they fit. The room was small. There was a long mirror as well as a bench. Looking in the mirror, the black veins showing on its skin looked faded. Its skin looked less pale, and there was some dirt on its cheeks. It tried on the clothing as instructed. Most of them fit except for the shirt with the chocobo on it. It was a little big, but that didn’t bother it. Should it report this fact to Ignis? He might take it away, so it wasn’t going to mention it. </p><p>     After it was all done, Ignis took everything and paid for them. They left the store and went to meet up with Gladio. They walked past many more buildings. There were some small creatures hanging out at a spot near a bench. They didn’t pay much to the people walking by.  </p><p>     “What are you looking at?” Noctis asked. </p><p>     “Those things that make the beeping sound.” </p><p>     “You mean the birds?” </p><p>     <em> Birds. </em> </p><p>     Ignis told them to hurry up, so they did. After a few minutes, they entered another building. This one was bigger, with a strange design on the floor. There were large windows, and a long thing in the middle of the room that had some people sitting on it. Ignis led them to some stairs that were located at the end of the room. They went up the steps and eventually reached a hallway. There were a lot of doors on each side. The sight reminded it of the cells in the facility. </p><p>     They walked to the end of the hallway, and Ignis knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal Gladio. He greeted them as they stepped inside. The room inside had some chairs, a door on the side near where they entered, and two beds. 05953234 had never seen a room with two beds. Since the room was about three times larger than its old cell, it would make sense to place another bed. Fitting in more people per room was just practical. </p><p>     There was someone else in the room with them. A young girl, who went to go hug Noctis. She had short hair and was wearing all black. Her attention then became focused on 05953234. </p><p>     “Woah, your eyes!” </p><p>     “Iris,” Gladio said, with a slight warning tone. </p><p>     “What? I think they look cool. So, what’s your name?” </p><p>     “Unit 05953234,” it replied. </p><p>     “Huh?” </p><p>     “He can’t remember his name,” Noctis lied. </p><p>     “Aw, that’s terrible. Maybe, you can come up with a new name.” </p><p>     It was about to explain to her that only humans get names, but there was a knock on the door. A very young person entered the room with an older man behind him. They were introduced as Jared and Talcott. Talcott was strange, to say the least. He was excited to meet Noctis and didn’t really pay much attention to the older man telling him about minding his manners. It wondered where these manners were located. It couldn’t see anything on the small person that could be his manners. </p><p>     “You look weird. Are you okay?” Talcott asked. </p><p>     “Talcott, that’s very impolite,” the older man chastised. Once the two were done greeting everyone, they left the room. Everyone then sat down while 05953234 stayed standing by a wall. The girl named Iris started talking about the empire and an attack. There was an uncomfortable silence before she started to mention a Luna. She left the room after a while, so it was now just the four of them. </p><p>     “I think showers are in order,” Ignis said. He looked over at 05953234. “Perhaps, you should go first?” </p><p>     It nodded. It hadn’t had its scheduled cleaning for a few days now. </p><p>     “Do you know how to use a shower?” </p><p>     “I undress and wait for them to be turned on.” </p><p>     It thought back to the cleaning days where the units had been placed in a room. There had been showers on the wall that they had stood under. They had been given nothing but a bar of soap. </p><p>     “Noctis, go show him how to use a shower.” </p><p>     “Fine.” </p><p>     Noctis led it to a smaller room where there was a shower, a large mirror that hung over two sinks, and a toilet. Noctis went up to the shower and briefly told it how everything worked. There was a small thing to pull to activate the shower part. Also, there was a large knob that controlled the temperature. That was new. Before, the water had always been cold. That had been its least favorite part of cleaning days. </p><p>     When Noctis was done providing instructions, 05953234 started to get ready for the cleaning process. It removed its shirt and was about to take off its pants, but Noctis grabbed its hands. </p><p>     “Dude, what are you doing!?” </p><p>     “I’m going to take a shower, as instructed.” </p><p>     “Astrals, at least wait for me to leave before taking off your clothes.” </p><p>     Noctis quickly let go of its hands and was trying to look anywhere but at it. There was some redness beginning to spread across his cheeks. Strange, it didn’t know humans could change color. Why was he changing color? It also didn’t understand his reaction to its undressing. It and all the other units had removed clothes in front of each other without any complaint. The scientists had no problems either when it had to remove any of its clothes for tests. Why was Noctis displeased? </p><p>     “The shampoo and conditioner are on the sink. Just, yeah.” </p><p>     Noctis left the room quickly and shut the door. 05953234 removed the rest of its clothes. It saw two bottles on the sink and grabbed them. They were smaller than its hands. Stepping in the shower, it placed the bottles down. It moved the knob a little to the right, and water started to spill out of the faucet. Pulling the little thing, the water stopped flowing from the faucet and came out of the shower part. </p><p>     05953234 shivered from the cold, so it moved the knob all the way to the right. The water became blistering hot. It couldn’t help but let out a yelp. It moved the knob back to the left until the water was lukewarm. It took a while to get the water to the right temperature. It stood underneath the water for a bit before spotting a large piece of fabric hanging from a metal bar. It pulled at the fabric, and the whole thing slid towards it. The view of the rest of the room became blocked. </p><p>     Letting go of the fabric, it looked around to see if there was a bar of soap. There was one, and it grabbed it. When it was done scrubbing and rinsing itself off, it picked up one of the bottles. Pouring a little bit out, it saw that the substance was yellowish-white. It wasn’t sure what to do with it. If the bar of soap was used on the body, then maybe this for hair? It started to scrub its head with the stuff.  </p><p>     Then, it opened the other bottle and squeezed out stuff that was also yellowish-white. It repeated the same action, but this time, there was white foam forming. From what it could tell, it looked similar to the foam that had formed on its hands when it would use the bar of soap. Some of it got in 05953234’s eyes, which stung. It let out a small noise and rubbed its eyes. The stinging lasted a couple of minutes, and it rinsed its head thoroughly. </p><p>     With nothing left to do, the water was turned off, and it pushed the fabric to the side. It stepped out and stood there. Normally, air would blow at the units to dry them after the showers had stopped. Nothing happened. Should it get dressed? It spotted something above the toilet. There were some folded white blankets. Pulling the top one off the stack, the blanket unraveled. It was long and rectangular and didn’t seem like it could be an effective blanket. There was a knock on the door. </p><p>     “I have some fresh clothes for you to wear.” </p><p>     The voice sounded like it belonged to Ignis. 05953234 was about to open the door but remembered Noctis’s reaction to seeing it undressed. </p><p>     “Not dressed.” </p><p>     “There should be a towel in there you can use.” </p><p>     Towels? It looked at the blanket, wondering if that was what he was talking about. It tried wrapping the towel around its body the best it could. Hopefully, this would be good enough. It opened the door and saw Ignis standing there holding some clothes. He raised an eyebrow at it before handing over the clothes. The door closed, and 05953234 got changed. It was wearing the shirt with the chocobo and some pants, except the pants only went down to its knees. </p><p>     It gathered up the clothes from the floor and exited to the larger room where the rest were. Noctis was lying on one of the beds, playing on his device. Gladio was on the other bed looking at something he was holding, while Ignis was sitting in a chair. Ignis got up and took the clothes from 05953234’s hands. He then handed it a small piece of paper. </p><p>     “I think it’s time for you to have a name. Wouldn’t you say?” Ignis asked. He gave it a small smile. “I’ve made a small list of names for you to choose. You can pick whichever stands out to you the most. I can always provide you with more if necessary.” </p><p>     05953234 gripped the paper tightly. What would it take for everyone to understand? </p><p>     “I’m not... I’m not human. I’m an MT!” </p><p>     “That’s not true.” </p><p>     “I was created in the lab. I was trained to fight. Conditioned to serve the empire, humans. What part of that isn’t true!” </p><p>     Tears threatened to spill from its eyes. It gripped its hair and kept its eyes on the floor. </p><p>     “I’m not saying that any of that isn’t true. However, you are more than what they made you.” </p><p>     05953234 wasn’t really listening. Instead, it kept its eyes fixed on the floor. A hand grabbed one of his wrists, causing it to look up. Ignis placed its hand on his chest. There it could feel something lightly pounding. </p><p>     “Do you feel anything?” </p><p>     “Your heart?” </p><p>     Ignis nodded and placed its hand on its chest. </p><p>     “Feel anything?” </p><p>     “M-my heart.” </p><p>     “See? You have more in common with humans than with machines.” </p><p>     05953234 only stared at him in bewilderment. It never really thought about that. Maybe Ignis had a point. </p><p>     “I guess.” </p><p>     Ignis smiled at him before turning to the other two. </p><p>     “Who’s next in the shower?” </p><p>     Noctis opted to take a shower. 05953234 sat down on the bed as it looked down at the piece of paper. There were several lines of words. It wanted to do as Ignis instructed, but it couldn’t. It looked up Gladio, who was reading a stack of papers bound by a green case. Gladio looked over at it. </p><p>     “Need something?” he asked. He looked down at the paper it held. “Did you pick something nice?” </p><p>     It pointed to the first word on the list. </p><p>     “Charles, huh?” </p><p>     05953234 repeated the name before pointing to the next one. </p><p>     “What? Don’t you know how to read?” </p><p>     It shook its head. </p><p>     “It isn’t necessary for units to learn.” </p><p>     “Regardless, reading is an important skill. I’ll plan some lessons for you,” Ignis interjected. </p><p>     “You don’t have too.” </p><p>     “I insist.” </p><p>     It nodded and tucked the piece of paper away. Once everyone was done with their shower, dinner was eaten. Later, they all went to bed. It took a while for 05953234 to fall asleep. Its mind was replaying what Ignis had said. Its hand went back to feel its heartbeat. Eventually, it passed out. </p><p>
  <strike>———————</strike>
</p><p>     05953234 accompanied Ignis to shop for supplies the following morning. Later, they went to a place that had a huge flow of water falling over the edge. Behind the water, and an entrance where Noctis got yet another weapon. Soon after the weapon disappeared, Noctis hunched over in pain. His head was hurting, but for only a minute. It was then that they decided to head back to Lestallum immediately. Ignis recommended they go to an outlook to view a Disc of Cauthess. </p><p>     When they approached the outlook, 05953234 marveled at the view. It somehow made the world seem larger. As they got closer, someone was standing at a metal thing. The person had reddish hair and a hat. Now, it had never seen this man before, but when he turned around, a sense of dread filled 05953234. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Not too happy with the post dream scene, but I did my best. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)<br/>oh hey look, trash Jesus</p><p>Tumblr, twitter- sauri5</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     The human introduced himself as Ardyn. When he looked at 05953234, he gave an it unnerving smile. He peered into its eyes as if he could see all of its faults. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Now, what do we have here? A lost little lamb?” Ardyn questioned.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It was starting to feel uncomfortable under the man’s gaze. Fortunately, Noctis moved in front of it, blocking the man’s view. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “So, what? You’re saying you can take us down there?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Ardyn led them over to the Regalia, and his ‘automobile’ was right next to it. He told them that they were to follow him while he led them to their destination. He also wanted Noctis to drive specifically. There was something strange about this man. He seemed honest but also not at the same time.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Perhaps, this one can ride along with me? Driving can be quite dreary without someone to talk to.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     05953234 looked over at Noctis in alarm. It did not want to be separated from the rest of the group, especially if it meant being alone with this man.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Not a chance,” Noctis replied. He placed an arm around its shoulders and steered him to the other side of the car. He let go of it and went to the driver’s side and got in. It got inside as well. While on the drive, they discussed the fact they didn’t trust the man. 05953234 didn’t want to go anywhere the man was taking them, but it would if it meant helping Noctis.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     They stopped at one of those places that provided fuel for the Regalia. Everyone got out, and Ardyn suggested they stop here for the night. They were all to sleep in the same space. During the evening, they were sitting at a table. Ardyn was talking about one of his travels. At one point, he was talking about some of the people he had seen. He got close to it and lightly touched his face. Noctis ordered Ardyn to step away, and </span>
  <span>Gladio</span>
  <span> placed himself in front of it. It didn’t know why they both went to the trouble of doing so, but it appreciated it.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It didn’t sleep that night. It stayed awake to see if Ardyn would try to harm them. Fortunately, nothing bad happened. The next morning, they continued to drive. 05953234 wondered how long it would take to get there. Noctis had always been nice to him, so it did not want to see him hurt anymore. At some point, Ardyn left them alone to go find this Titan person. When they got to their destination, there was another one of those weapons that disappear into Noctis.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Suddenly, a really large being emerged. The ground crumbled, and Noctis fell, with Gladio going after him. 05953234 didn’t want to separate from them, but Ignis promised that they would meet up with the other two elsewhere. The area started to get really hot, and Ignis was having a difficult time remaining in contact with the others. The large person started swinging its fists at something, which was likely Noctis and </span>
  <span>Gladio</span>
  <span>. It hoped they were okay and wished it could be there to help them. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Ignis must have noticed that it was worried, because he rested a hand on its shoulder and assured that they would be fine. In the distance, the two of them spotted dropships arriving. It got a bad feeling.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “We need to hurry!” 05953234 exclaimed.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Agreed.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Ignis tried to inform the others of the empire’s arrival. They eventually met up with the others, but now they were stuck there surrounded by intense heat. Then, Ardyn showed up in an imperial dropship. He was with the Empire. He offered to help get them out of there. Things felt weird while riding in the dropship with Ardyn. Ignis demanded that he let them go, but didn’t seem too much concerned. Instead, he chuckled.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “What’s so funny?” Gladio asked.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Oh, nothing really. Just amused with how cautious you are of me despite having a </span>
  <span>Niflheim</span>
  <span> weapon in your company.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “He’s not a weapon. He’s our friend,” Noctis said.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “If I were you, I would be careful about what kind of friends I made.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “I think I’ll be fine.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Ardyn shrugged, and the dropship landed. The four of them exited, and Ardyn bid them farewell. The group was left without any means of transportation.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Well, what now?” </span>
  <span>Gladio</span>
  <span> asked.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Our first order of business is hunting down the Regalia. We should ask Cindy to help keep an ear out for any word of its whereabouts,” Ignis replied.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “He could have at least dropped us somewhere near a town,” Noctis said.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Wiz’s farm should be close by. We can procure some </span>
  <span>chocobos</span>
  <span> there.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     That word sounded familiar, but then 05953234 remembered. It looked down at the shirt it was wearing. They were going to get some chocobos? It wondered what one felt like. The group walked for about an hour until they reached a building that was surrounded by short fencing. It was curious as to why the place such had ineffective barriers. Intruders could easily climb over them. An older man greeted them and allowed them to take some of the creatures. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     There they were off to the side. They seemed bigger up close in person. 05953432 followed Noctis and the others to the </span>
  <span>chocobos</span>
  <span>. In the distance, it saw one person touch another human’s mouth with their own. Was that something humans did? The whole thing seemed kind of pointless.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Are you just going to keep staring at the couple or what?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     05953234 turned around to see that </span>
  <span>Gladio</span>
  <span> was speaking to it. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “They put their mouths on each other, but neither of them ate each other. Why?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “They’re just kissing, blondie.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “What is kissing?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “It’s what people do when they like each other a lot. Now, come on.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>When people like each other.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It saw Noctis pet the neck of one of them, and the creature rested its head on his shoulders. 05953432 approached a chocobo to try and do the same thing. It got closer, but when it raised its hand, the creature began to make a loud sound as it leaned away. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     05953432 quickly retracted its hand. Its chest hurt despite not being injured. Did the </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> know that it was defective and wanted nothing to do with it? A hand took hold of its wrist. It looked up to see that it was Noctis. Noctis dragged it over to another chocobo.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Here. This one seems calmer.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It hesitantly raised its arm to try again.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Slowly.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It followed instructions and slowly brought its hand towards the </span>
  <span>chocobo’s</span>
  <span> head. The </span>
  <span>chocobos</span>
  <span> stared at it before nuzzling its hand. It gently began to stroke the neck, which felt nice and smooth.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “The </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> feels soft.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     The </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> let out a noise, and it gave 05953234 a strange desire to wrap its arms around the creature. When the </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> rested it head on its shoulder, 05953234 did just that.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Look at that. You have teeth after all.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It looked at Noctis, not understanding what he was saying. “All units come with teeth.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “No, I mean, I hardly ever see you smile.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It became worried. “Is that bad? Would you like me to stop?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Noctis’s eyes widened. “No, of course not. You can smile all you want.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Okay.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Noctis stared at him for a moment before turning around.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “I’ll be right back.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It looked at Noctis in confusion as it watched him walk away. But it soon became distracted when the </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> licked its face and caused some of its hair to stick up. It let out a noise of disgust as it wiped its face. Someone came up to it, and it saw that it was </span>
  <span>Gladio</span>
  <span>.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “You know, you kind of look like them. Your hair looks like a </span>
  <span>chocobo’s</span>
  <span> butt.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     05953234 frowned after hearing his comment. It didn’t understand; its hair didn’t look like the behind of a </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span>. The colors didn’t even match. Just then, Noctis returned carrying green things that were called lettuce. He placed the lettuce into its hand and instructed it to hold it out in front of the </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span>. It wasn’t sure what the purpose of the activity was until the </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> leaned its head down to grab the lettuce with its mouth.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It let out a noise of surprise in response. The feeling of the creature grabbing the food with its strange mouth felt weird. It looked over at Noctis, who fed the </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> the rest of the vegetables. It found itself slightly upset because it wanted to feed the creature more. Noctis looked at it, well, he looked at its hair.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Your hair kind of reminds me of a chocobo.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “That’s what I said.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It frowned again. “How?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “It’s shaped like the butt,” Noctis replied.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “It is?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Noctis held up a phone before turning around. On the phone was it, but smaller. But it was standing right here. Was that a clone? How did he clone it and shrink it down? The clone was being strangely still. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “How did you put a clone in there?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “What are you talking about? There’s no clone.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     05953234 pointed to the smaller version of him. Noctis turned the phone around.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “You mean the picture?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “What is a picture?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “It’s what you take with a camera.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Now it was feeling even more confused. Just then, Ignis walked up to the group. He would be able to explain. </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “What’s a camera?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Something used to capture real-to-life images.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     05953234 blinked at him.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “I will gladly explain later, but for now, we need to get going.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     The group was given four </span>
  <span>chocobos</span>
  <span>, and three of them mounted the creatures while </span>
  <span>Prompto</span>
  <span> watched them. It tried to copy their movements but ended up with its torso over the </span>
  <span>chocobo’s</span>
  <span> back. It took a second for 05953234 to get its leg over onto the other side. When it was sitting upright, it looked over to see Noctis and </span>
  <span>Gladio</span>
  <span>, who looked like they were trying to stop themselves from laughing. It gave out a huff.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Ignis, Noctis, and </span>
  <span>Gladio</span>
  <span> got their </span>
  <span>chocobos</span>
  <span> to start moving. When 05953234 tried to get its own to budge, the </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> took off in a run. It clung to the creature’s neck as it bounced up and down on its seat. The </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> kept going, and it was not sure how to make it stop. Ignis caught up to it and told it to pull back on the reigns gently. The reigns being the brown straps.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     The </span>
  <span>chocobo</span>
  <span> slowed down, and 05953234 enjoyed the ride. It enjoyed it whenever the creature decided to jump. They travelled a bit before 05953234 spotted a dropship before anyone else did. It alerted the other others of its arrival. A large squad of MTs dropped to the ground, and the four of them got their weapons ready. It pulled its pistol from its holster and took aim. It took down a couple of the troopers. It looked over to see Noctis standing over one of the </span>
  <span>MTs.</span>
  <span> He looked as if he was hesitating to finish it off.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Noctis’s eyes met its, and in his moment of distraction, the MT got up. The trooper was about to strike at him, but 05953234 managed to shoot it down. Noctis looked at it again before shaking his head. He went back to fighting while it was wondering if he was okay. From what it had observed before, he normally wasn’t like this.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     After the fight, it approached him.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “You have to be quick, or it will hurt you.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “I know.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It nodded, and nothing more was said. But it noticed that something was still wrong. The group stayed in a building this time. One of those buildings that have a large room with two beds. Nighttime came, and Noctis excused himself for a while. After half an hour, he was still gone. It was getting worried, so it left the room to search for him. Looking around, it eventually found Noctis sitting on the roof. There were some stairs leading up to the top. It approached him slowly.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Can I sit here?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Sure.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “What are you doing?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Nothing much, just chilling.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “You seemed different earlier. Are you okay?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “I’m fine.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Things became quiet between them. 05953234 figured he didn’t want to talk to it anymore, so it stood up to go back to the room.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “How are you okay with this?”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It stopped and looked at Noctis before sitting back down.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “I do not understand.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “You said that some of the MTs were actual people, right? People like you? How can you go around killing them knowing that?</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “They are soldiers trained to kill us, to kill you.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “So were you. If I had killed you, you wouldn’t be here with me right now.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It never thought about it like that before. It would never have gotten to see all these new places or ride a chocobo. It would never have gotten to know everyone.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “We should stop by that facility of theirs someday. You know, to tear it all down and maybe free some of your brothers.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It got confused when it heard the term “brother.” It corrected him saying that they were clones. Noctis tried his best to explain the concept of brothers, which turned into an explanation of family. Maybe it was bad at understanding human stuff, but it was still a bit confused. What it couldn't wrap its mind around was the idea of invading the facility to free the other units. That wouldn’t be possible, would it? </span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “It’s too dangerous. Too many cameras and soldiers.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “I guess it’s a good thing we have you to help us out.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     05953234 shook its head.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Even if we did invade, the clones will not want to leave. They only see themselves as soldiers of the empire, not humans. I still have a hard time believing I’m one.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It placed a hand over its heart, feeling each heartbeat.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “Think what you will, but you’ll always be human.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It gave a small smile. “Yeah.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “So, when are you going to pick a name? I’m not going to settle on ‘blondie,’ like Gladio.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     It pulled out the folded piece of paper that had the list of names.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     “I still don’t know what the rest say.”</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Noctis took the paper away from it and read it out to 05953234. It murmured each one, but none of them felt like a name it would have. It was hard to explain, but none of the names felt right. It felt bad because Ignis had gone to the trouble of making a list. Noctis assured it was fine, and they could always give it different suggestions. It nodded and went back to the room, leaving Noctis, who said he wanted some more alone time.</span>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Waiting for it was Ignis, who offered to give it its first reading lesson. It smiled and was glad it was here with everyone.</span>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>saurix5 on tumblr &amp; @movielover52 on twitter</p><p>ty for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Rip Noctis eheheheh</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     05953234 scratched its head as it stared at the words on the page. It had been a couple of days since their run-in with the giant person. The four of them had set up camp for the day, and Ignis was providing it with another reading lesson. </p><p>     “Kuh-nee.” </p><p>     “The k is silent. So, you do not say it.” </p><p>     It frowned at the paper. That didn’t make any sense to it. Why was the letter even there? How was it supposed to know which ones it wasn’t supposed to say? It thought it had been doing well, but now Ignis was going to know how stupid it was. </p><p>     “What’s wrong?” </p><p>     05953234 straightened himself. </p><p>     “Nothing.” </p><p>     “We’ve talked about this. If you have something on your mind, you can tell me,” Ignis sighed. It bit its lip before responding. </p><p>     “Why is there a k if I’m not supposed to say it?” </p><p>     “I’m not sure. That’s just how it is spelled.” </p><p>     It frowned again. Who knew there would be so many rules to reading? Then there were exceptions to some of them. Why couldn’t reading be simple? 05953234 tried reading the sentence again. This time, it got the sentence right. When Ignis smiled at it, it knew it did a good job.  </p><p>     “I think that’s enough for today,” Ignis said. </p><p>     05953234 nodded and stood up. Now, it had to find something to do. Looking around, it noticed a large patch of colorful things in the grass. Flowers were what they were called. It walked over to them and crouched down. It touched the soft things that were called petals. Someone came up to it, and it turned around to see that it was Noctis. </p><p>     “Hey,” Noctis greeted. </p><p>     “Hello.” </p><p>     “I see you’re done being lectured by Ignis.” </p><p>     “Yes. Reading is hard. There are letters you’re not supposed to say. I asked Ignis why that is since he knows a lot of things, but he wasn’t sure. I guess he doesn’t know everything.” </p><p>     “Don’t let him hear you say that,” Noctis said with a small laugh.  </p><p>     He sat down next to 05953234 and handed it something. The thing was a white box, and inside it was a rectangular item that looked similar to Noctis’s phone. </p><p>     “I got you one so that we don’t have to keep bugging Ignis for his phone every time we want to play King’s Knight.” </p><p>     05953234 turned it on, and Noctis showed it how to add a background picture and how to use the apps. He went and downloaded the game for it. He also showed it how to call and “text” people.  </p><p>     Luckily, this phone came equipped with a camera. It pressed the little camera image to bring up the interface. Just like with Noctis’s phone, all it had to do was press the white circle. Taking a picture, it caught Noctis just as he was blinking. The little Noctis on the phone looked rather odd but in an amusing way. </p><p>     Turning to the flowers, it took a photo of them. Then, it moved the phone closer to the flowers before snapping a picture. </p><p>     “Man, you really like that camera, huh?” </p><p>     05953234 nodded before getting an image of the ceiling that was called the sky. Looking down at the flowers again, it noticed a small thing hovering over them. The thing was orange with black lines that go from the center to the edges. 05953234 also got a picture of it. </p><p>     “What is it?” it asked without thinking. It hoped it didn’t seem dumb. </p><p>     “What? The butterfly?” </p><p>     The butterfly moved from flower to flower until it flew up to 05953234’s nose. It landed on the bridge on its nose and stayed there. The butterfly felt a bit ticklish, but it didn’t want to risk scaring the creature away. </p><p>     Eventually, the butterfly flew away, and it felt bad. 05953234 wanted it to stay longer. Looking over at Noctis, it noticed that he had an odd look on his face. </p><p>     “What’s wrong?” </p><p>     “What? Oh. Nothing.” </p><p>     Noctis smacked his arm. </p><p>     “Come on. I think there was a fishing spot nearby. You know how to fish?” </p><p>     It shook its head. Noctis led it to where there was a large thing of water. A pond was what it was called. He pulled out a long, metal stick with string. After putting something on the little hook, he flung it into the water. Then, he just stood there. </p><p>     Twenty minutes passed, and 0595323 was starting to wonder what the point of this activity was. </p><p>     “What are you waiting for,” it asked. </p><p>     “Shh, you’re going to scare away the fish.” </p><p>     It closed its mouth, and another 10 minutes went by.  </p><p>     “What are you trying to do with the fish?” it asked in a whisper. </p><p>     “Um, catch them?” </p><p>     “Wouldn’t it be quicker to use a net?” </p><p>     “But that’s not as fun.” </p><p>     It looked down at the water. </p><p>     “Why is it a fun activity?” </p><p>     “I don’t know. It’s just a nice break from everything. It’s good to relax and not worry about anything.” </p><p>     05953234 didn’t ask him anything else. Instead, it enjoyed the calmness along with Noctis. It took out its phone and backed away from him. Opening up the camera app, it snapped a photo of him.  </p><p>     The picture was a simple one. Noctis’s back was facing the camera, and the pond took up half the image. At the top, there were tall hills in the distance. 05953234 looked fondly at the photo. </p><p>     Suddenly, Noctis jerked his arms. It looked to see that he was pulling the stick, and something was pulling the string. Whatever it was, it must have had a strong grip because it was giving him some trouble. </p><p>     “Do you need help?” </p><p>     “I got it!” </p><p>     After about eight agonizingly long minutes, Noctis managed to pull a fish out of the water. He held it up to get a better look at it as it was flopping in the air. The fish was as long as Noctis’s torso, but only half the width of his chest. The creature was black or maybe dark grey. 05953234 took a photo of it. </p><p>     “What are you going to do with it?” </p><p>     “Going to give it to Ignis so he can make supper out of it, of course.” </p><p>     Oh, of course. The two walked back to camp, and Noctis presented the fish to Ignis, who took it from him. Suddenly, Noctis’s phone started to make noise. He held it up to his ear and started talking. It sounded like a voice was coming from the device. Was there someone inside it? Was this what Noctis had meant by “calling” people? </p><p>     “That was Cindy. She said that she has news about the Regalia. It’s at a nearby Niflheim base,” Noctis informed them after putting his phone in his pocket. </p><p>     “Just our luck,” Gladio stated. 05953234 didn’t think they were lucky at all. </p><p>     “Well, we better get a good night’s rest tonight because tomorrow is going to be a long day,” Ignis said. </p><p>
  <strike> -----   </strike>
</p><p>     The next day, the group was going to set out to retrieve the Regalia. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily. Before the group could go anywhere, they were stopped by a strange woman with long black hair. She had a gentle voice and directed them to a cave.  </p><p>     The detour involved them going inside to fight monsters, and Noctis made a pact with something called an astral. 05953234 wasn’t quite sure what the others meant when they had told him. </p><p>     Afterward, it had stopped raining. Now, the four of them could retrieve the vehicle without the water messing with their vision. 05953234 found it kind of amusing to see the back of Noctis’s hair spring back up after it dried. </p><p>     When they finally reached the base, it felt extremely nervous. It did not want to go near anything that had to do with the empire. What if the enemy captured it? They would severely correct it if not outright terminate the unit. Clenching its fist, it decided that it would go inside the base for Noctis. </p><p>     The group snuck in, with Noctis going on ahead. They reached the car before they got surrounded by enemies. Suddenly, there was a loud sound in the sky, followed by a bright light. A giant man, as big as the Titan, appeared. He shot down purple beams of light down at the base.  </p><p>     05953234 was pulled into cover by someone, but it couldn’t see who it was. Everything became bright, and there was a sensation in the air that was similar to this one time where Noctis had shot out something called magic. Its skin felt like it was buzzing. </p><p>     When everything was over, there were no enemies left. Somehow, the Regalia had survived. As everyone walked towards the car, it felt relieved that they could finally leave this place. Of course, things were never easy. </p><p>     A guy with white hair and a metal arm confronted them. He didn’t seem very friendly. Gladio got in between him and Noctis. The strange man swung at Gladio, who blocked the attack. Unfortunately, the man proved to be too strong as Gladio struggled to hold his ground. 05953234 pulled out its gun and aimed at the person. It wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him or anyone in the group. The man mocked Noctis about owning an MT, which he argued back. </p><p>     Eventually, the stranger yielded, and Ardyn appeared out of nowhere. 05953234 remained guarded. Ardyn didn’t try to make a move against them or anything. He let them take the Regalia instead. Of course, that didn’t stop it from being wary around him. </p><p>     When they left the base, it felt much better. It felt nice to have the wind blowing through 05953234’s hair. Nothing much exciting happened for the rest of the day. Though, it noticed that something was bothering Gladio. </p><p>     “Are you okay? You appear to be functioning well, but you still seem different.” </p><p>     “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.” </p><p>     “If something is wrong, then we could ask Ignis for help. He knows a lot of helpful things!” </p><p>     “I said, don’t worry about it!” </p><p>     Gladio walked away, and Noctis approached it from behind. He draped an arm around its shoulder. </p><p>     “Don’t worry about him. He’s always been like that.” </p><p>     They both said that it should not be concerned, but it couldn’t help it. 05953234 wanted everyone to be okay. As if sensing its worry, Noctis suggested they play a game on their phones together. The activity served as a nice distraction. </p><p>
  <strike> ------   </strike>
</p><p>     The next day, the group was back at the place where the chocobos were. Noctis, 05953234, and Gladio were sitting at a table. </p><p>     “What’s a friend?” 05953234 asked. </p><p>     “A friend is a friend?” Noctis replied. </p><p>     That hadn’t really answered its question.  </p><p>     “It means someone you’re fond of. Someone that you trust,” Gladio informed it. Ah, that made more sense. A friend was someone you trusted. Well, it trusted them. </p><p>     “Are we friends?” it asked Noctis. </p><p>     “Well, yeah. Of course.” </p><p>     It looked at Gladio. </p><p>     “Sure, if that’s what you want.” </p><p>     It was glad that they were friends. Maybe, it should ask Ignis if they were friends. It looked at Noctis and suddenly remembered what Gladio had said. Humans like to kiss each other when they liked each other. Well, it liked Noctis a lot, and he seemed to like it. Did that mean they should kiss? </p><p>     Noctis would have done so if they should. Maybe, he was waiting for it to initiate the kiss? Now that 05953234 thought about it, it hadn’t seen Ignis or Gladio kiss each other or Noctis. Maybe, they disliked each other. No, that couldn’t be right. Perhaps, humans only needed to do it once? Or, they had done so when it hadn’t been around. Why were human things so confusing? </p><p>     It remembered what the other humans had done and tried to mimic that. When Noctis turned his head, 05953234 took the opportunity to kiss him. Leaning forward, its lips made contact with Noctis’s own. </p><p>     The first thing it noticed was that Noctis’s lips were kina soft. A good feeling spread through its chest. No wonder humans liked to touch their mouths together. It was nice. 05953234 thought it heard something drop nearby them. After a few seconds, 0593234 pulled away. </p><p>     Noctis’s face was bright red as he stared wide-eyed at it. His face changed color again. Was he okay? </p><p>     “Why did you kiss me?” </p><p>     “Because humans like to kiss when they like each other. We are friends, so I thought that it would be appropriate.” </p><p>     Just then, Gladio broke out in laughter. </p><p>     “That’s not... we don’t... Friends don’t kiss!” </p><p>     “So, we’re not supposed to like each other?” </p><p>     “No. Yes. I mean, not like that. Ugh!” </p><p>     Noctis buried his head in his arms. 05953234 was confused and worried that it messed up. What should it do? </p><p>     “I’m sorry.” </p><p>     It looked over to Gladio for guidance, but he was too busy laughing. Just then, Ignis came up behind it and urged it to come with him. Ignis explained more about kissing, and people feel something different. Something called “love.” Ignis tried to explain the feeling the best he could, but 05953234 couldn’t quite understand what he meant. Apparently, humans feel a different kind of affection than the one it felt toward everyone there. He said that it would know what love was like when it felt it. But how was it supposed to know what it is like in the first place? </p><p>     It asked Ignis why Noctis’s face had turned red. He explained that people’s faces do that when they feel embarrassed. It was something that wasn’t a good thing but not necessarily bad. Well, sometimes at least. </p><p>     “Is Noctis mad at me?” 05953234 asked. </p><p>     “No, I think he was just surprised.” </p><p>     It was glad that Noctis was not mad at it. Though, it had to second-guess the thought since Noctis kept looking away from it while red appeared on its cheeks. But he still talked to it, so maybe that was a good sign? </p><p>     “So, are we ready to head out?” Ignis asked. <br/>     “Yup,” Noctis replied. </p><p>
  <strike> -----   </strike>
</p><p>     Gladio was clearly upset about something. What was weird was that no one else noticed this. If they had, they weren’t saying anything. 05953234 knew that it shouldn’t worry, but it couldn’t help it. </p><p>     It founding Gladio doing pushups and approached him. </p><p>     “Something up, blondie?” </p><p>     “The sky and clouds and a bunch of other things. Can I ask you a question?” </p><p>     “Sure.” </p><p>     “Are you okay?” </p><p>     “Yeah, why?” </p><p>     “It just seems like something has been affecting you.” </p><p>     Gladio ceased doing pushups, and looked at 05953234. </p><p>     “I said I’m fine. Now, stop worrying.” </p><p>     It did not know why it felt the urge to scream, but it did. However, it had to remain calm. </p><p>     “I know you said for me to stop, but I can’t. I tried. I’m sorry.” </p><p>     Gladio stood up and gently placed a hand on its shoulder. </p><p>     “There’s nothing to be sorry for. I just need to get out of this slump.” </p><p>     It didn’t know what he meant by that. He didn’t seem to be inside anything. </p><p>     “How are you in a slump?” </p><p>     Gladio shrugged his shoulders. If he was referring to his mood, then this slump had been going on for a couple of days ever since they had retrieved the Regalia. </p><p>     “Does it have to do with what happened at the enemy base? With that strange man?” </p><p>     At first, Gladio didn’t respond. Perhaps, it guessed wrong? </p><p>     “Yeah.” </p><p>     “Well, he isn’t here anymore, so he can’t hurt you.” </p><p>     “That’s the thing. I shouldn’t have let him get me like that!” </p><p>     “He did have a metal arm. I imagine that it is strong and that anyone would have a difficult time fighting him.” </p><p>     “You don’t understand. I’m Noctis’s shield. If I can’t stand up to Ravus of all people, how am I supposed to protect him?” </p><p>     Did he not think that he was competent enough? 05953234 thought he was very capable, especially in battles. </p><p>    “You’re very strong, and we’ve been safe so far. I think your performance has been great!” </p><p>     Gladio smiled and ruffled its hair. It felt nice. </p><p>     “Thanks, blondie.” </p><p>     05953234 hoped that Gladio would feel better afterward. However, he left the group the next morning. He said that there was something that he needed to do but wouldn't say what it was. 05953235 was unhappy that he was going away. It wanted all of them to stay together. What if something terrible happened to him? Gladio assured them that he would return. It wished that he would come back really soon. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have returned with another chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     Another day, another hunt. It had been more difficult to fight their enemies while having one less person in the group. The three of them had once got caught out at night. They had to stop the car every five minutes because daemons had kept appearing in front of them. Unlike before, the monsters had decided to attack 05953234. Maybe it was because it had far less daemon blood in it, as Ignis had said. 059532345 was not sure how to feel about it. The former MT really missed having Gladio around. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     On the bright side, it was spending a lot of time with Noctis. It had never had a friend before now, and it was glad that Noctis wanted to be its. Lately, 05953234 started developing a strange sensation whenever it was near Noctis. The feeling was not a bad one. However, the impression left it feeling warm and confused. Not to mention, its heart rate elevated slightly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     It could be that 05953234 was experiencing what humans go through when they become friends with each other. It didn’t really know what some of the feelings it would sense were. Maybe it could ask Ignis for clarification, but it didn’t put much thought into it. There was nothing bad going on, so there was no cause for concern.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Currently, the three of them were sitting in the Regalia. 05953234 was looking down at the radio. It was still curious about the sounds coming from it. The others called it music, and there were many different kinds. Sometimes, Noctis would have the radio play something called rock music. However, 05953234 hadn’t understood what the songs had to do with rocks. Hardly any of the words had mentioned some type mineral as far as it had been aware. The former MT had found the music to be slightly harsh on its ears.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Other times, when Noctis was sleeping, Ignis would play songs that he had called classical. This kind of music was softer to listen to, which 05953234 preferred. It was sitting in the front passenger seat, feeling relaxed as the wind hit its face. It started looking around to see if there were other interesting parts of the Regalia.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     05953234 happened to spot a small lever on the side. Out of curiosity, it pulled on the lever, and the back of its seat fell slightly backward. For a moment, it feared that it had broken the seat. In a panic, it sat up and pulled on the handle again. The back came flying back up and lightly smacked 05953234, who let out a small sound of surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     It heard a small chuckle and looked over at Ignis, who was facing the road. But his eyes were looking at it. A sensation washed over 05953234. The feeling was kind of bad, but the former MT didn’t know what to call it. It wasn’t scared of being scolded, but it did not want Ignis to look at it while it made mistakes. 05953234 wanted to disappear at that moment. Was this what Noctis had felt before? Embarrassed?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     It remained seated still in an obedient manner. Eventually, the car came to a stop. The location was Hammerhead, which did not give 05953234 any pleasant feelings. The last time the group had visited this place, an older human had started scolding at it and had held a gun toward it. Noctis had to convince the man not to execute it. The older man had lowered the gun and had walked off displeased.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Thankfully, the man wasn’t around, but it did see the woman with short, curly hair and oil stains. Her outfit appeared minimal and did not look optimal for combat. While she was cautious around 05953234, she was not hostile toward him. She seemed nicer toward its friends, so that was good. Still, it kept its distance from her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     It decided to wander off while the others went to talk to her. Walking around, it spotted another person leaning over a table. Curious, it went around to see what she was looking at. The closer 05953234 approached, the more it started to hear strange sounds coming from her direction. Was she making that noise? No, humans couldn’t do that. At least, none that it had ever met.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Looking down, it noticed a bucket, which seemed to be the source of the sounds. 05953234 came up next to the woman and saw that she was observing a small green creature. The animal had weird eyes and red feet. There was something slightly off about it. Then, the lady’s eyes met its own.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Oh!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     She jumped back a bit before adjusting her glasses. Inching closer to it, she peered at its eyes. Her behavior felt similar to that of the scientists in the facility but less cold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Those don’t seem to be contacts. Natural eye color? Perhaps, a mutation?” she questioned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “All MTs receive daemon blood, but I haven’t had any since I left the facility.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “And you’re still alive? Very interesting. Unfortunately, I only study the wildlife around Lucis. But I have a friend in Lestallum who would love to study you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     05953234 did not know how to respond to that statement. The creature on the table behind made the strange sound again before leaping down to the ground. The woman turned around and tried to catch it, but the thing hopped away from them toward some bushes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “No! I wasn’t finished! Great, now I’m going to be behind on my work,” she said in worry and annoyance. Then, she looked over at 05953234. “To fix this, I need you to fetch some more red frogs. About five will do. Off you go.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     The woman turned around and didn’t pay any more attention to it. It walked away feeling confused about what to do about its new orders. On the one hand, it had messed up and needed to correct its mistakes. On the other hand, it was under the guidance of Noctis, Ignis, and Gladio. It should only take orders from them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “There you are,” a voice called out. 05953234 looked up to see Noctis approaching it. “What’s up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     It looked up to see the sky above it. “The sky, the sun, and some clouds.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Ha. Seriously though, what are you doing over here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “I met a woman.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “A woman?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Noctis looked taken back. It couldn’t interpret his expression. He appeared suspicious but also worried. 05953234 points behind it toward where the woman was.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Yes. She was looking at a small creature that made a weird noise. It hopped away, and she told me to find more red frogs. Do I have to obey her orders?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Of course not. I mean unless you want to go hunting for frogs?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Who’s hunting for frogs?” Ignis inquired. He walked toward 05953234 and Noctis. It pointed at the woman again. “I believe that is Sania Yeagre, a renowned biologist. I heard she is studying wildlife.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “She told me to find five red frogs. Do I have to follow her orders?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “I don’t see why you should. Have you already promised her the frogs?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “No. But she did say I have to since the creature escaped, so I need to correct my mistake.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “I highly doubt there was any mistake on your part. Still, helping out Sania could get us on her good side, which might benefit us in the long run.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Ignis led Noctis and 05953234 to a pond to look for the red frogs. He advised them, more like told 05953234, to remove their shoes and roll up their pants before going into the water. It followed instructions before stepping into the pond. The cold water felt nice to wade through since the weather was hot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     05953234 looked around the area for creatures that resembled the red frog that the woman had been looking at. Movement caught its eye, and it went towards something that was moving through the water. Catching the small thing, it saw that the animal had the same structure, but the frog was not red. The frog leaped out of its hands and went to the other side of the pond.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     The search continued. After several minutes, Noctis declared that he had found one. Ignis instructed him to put the animal into a bucket. 05953234 continued looking around, trying to complete the task assigned to it. After a minute, he did find a frog resting by the edge of the pond. Carefully and quickly, it scooped up the creature with its hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     It turned to Noctis to show him how capable it was, but he was leaning over the water in concentration. 0593234 couldn’t explain it, but there was an odd feeling bubbling inside it. It was like a voice was giving it orders, telling 05953234 to put the frog on top of Noctis’s head. It didn’t know why, and the idea made no sense. But for some reason, the blonde found itself inching toward Noctis. Raising its arms, it carefully placed the frog on his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Noctis froze at the action, and 05953234 quickly got its phone out to take a photo. After the picture got taken, the creature leapt off his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Why did you put a frog on my head?” Noctis asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “I don’t know. Something told me I should.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “What told you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     05953234 shrugged its shoulders. Noctis gave it a small smile before ruffling its hair. It still didn’t know the purpose of the action, but it wanted him to do it again. The three of them spent the next half hour looking for the rest of the frogs. Once they got all of them, they took the creatures back to the woman. She was pleased with them and mentioned how the scourge was causing something called a mutation in the animals.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Afterward, Ignis, Noctis, and 05953234 sat down for lunch. While Ignis was talking about vegetables to Noctis, much to Noctis's annoyance, 05953234’s mind randomly drifted back to the idea of a name. It pulled out the small list. It was able to read the words a bit better now, but none of the names felt right. There had to be other ones available.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     When the three of them were done eating, 05953234 went into the small store that was next to them. Ignis had started giving it a small portion of their money from hunts. The amount hadn’t been much, but he had said that it should be able to experience buying its own things with the money it had earned as humans did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Looking inside the store, it went to see if there was something that would help it decide on a name. 05953234 came across a section that had items. They looked similar to what Gladio had been reading before, books. Each one had different colors and images. Maybe one of them had the right word for 05953234 to use.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     One of the books caught its eye. It slowly read the words on the front in its head. The letters spelled out “Baby Names and Their Meanings.” 05953234 didn’t know what baby meant, but it did recognize the word “names.” Perfect. Recalling what it had seen Ignis do. There were white pieces of paper on the shelves with numbers on them. 05953234 had learned a bit about money and purchasing. The gil had numbers on them, and humans would add the numbers to exchange for something else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     The book would need 1,650 gil for a successful exchange. 05953234 pulled some of the money out of its pocket. It added the numbers in its head. In total, it had over 1,800 gil. However, it was unable to split it up to make it equal to the amount listed on the little paper. Should it still give the money to the person at the counter? Would the human be mad that it did it wrong?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     05953234 brought the book and gil to the person. They scanned the back and took the money. To its surprise, the man gives it some money back. It took the money and the book from the person and left the building. Then, it met up with Noctis and Ignis.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “You bought a book?” Noctis questioned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Yes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Okay… Well, come on. Let’s go.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     05953234 nodded and followed Noctis to the car.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     05953234, Ignis, and Noctis were at one of the havens. There wasn’t anything else for 05953234 to do since it had already completed its tasks. It was sitting in a chair and was  slowly looking through the book of names. Humans had a lot of words to call each other. As it flipped the pages, it noted the ones that stood out to it. There was Abram, Anthony, and Bailey. There was one that meant bald. Just bald. Why would someone call themselves that? It had to keep looking for more options.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Hey,” Noctis said, sitting in the chair next to 05953234. “Find anything good yet?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     It shrugged as it continued to look at the next name.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Want to train with me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     05953234 stiffened. “Do I require improvement?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “No. But it doesn’t hurt to get some practice in. At least, that’s what Gladio always says,” Noctis replied. He appeared a little downcast at the mention of Gladio for a moment before resuming his regular expression. “Anyways, I know he’s going to be on my ass if I don’t. Want to help me train?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>      Help? Yes, 05953234 wanted to help and be useful, especially when it came to Noctis. It nodded and stood up. After placing its book on the chair, it followed Noctis to a clear spot of land near the haven.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “So, I know you’re good with a gun, but how good are you with your fists? I remember kicking your ass last time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Hand-to-hand combat was not something 05953234 was skilled at and had hated that part of training.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “I am suboptimal.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>     “Oh, come on. You can’t be that bad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Noctis took his stance, and it did the same thing. When it went to punch him, he easily dodged the attack. Then, he grabbed its arm and swung it to the side before letting it go. 05953234 stumbled a bit before steadying itself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Or, maybe you are.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Noctis proceeded to teach it a few moves. 05953234 was not as skillful as it would have liked, but it was improving. It had always lacked a preference for this type of training back in the facility. But the process was much more enjoyable with Noctis. For one, he was a lot nicer than the instructors. It managed to strike Noctis, and it felt bad. It knew that it wouldn’t get in trouble for doing so, but still. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     When he threw a punch at 05953234, it immediately dodged. Then, it lunged at Noctis and tackled him to the ground. It had pinned him down effectively. However, Noctis was not going to yield just yet. He flipped them over, so he was on top only for 05953234 to revert back to their original position.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “All right, all right, I give up. You win,” Noctis said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     It smiled at the fact that it had won their training session. 05953234 knew it should get up now, but it didn’t. Instead, it stayed put, staring at Noctis. It was not like he ordered it to get off. In fact, he was staring back. The familiar warm feeling washed over 05953234. The one that caused its heart rate to elevate. Its eyes drifted down to Noctis’s lips before moving back to his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     For some reason, it had the desire to be closer to him. Slowly, it inched its head down toward Noctis, who closed his eyes. 0595323 did the same thing. It didn’t quite know what it was doing. It felt like its body was acting on its own.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     The sound of Ignis’s voice calling for them interrupted the moment. Noctis shoved 05953234 off of him and stood up. It could see that his face changed to a deep shade of red.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>     “Uh...I just...Let’s...Yeah,” Noctis mumbled, unable to form a complete sentence. He walked off in the direction of the campsite. 05953234 sat there for a moment, wondering what it had done wrong. After a minute, it got up to join the others.</span>
</p>
<p>
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